PUNE: A total of 76 patients were operated during a two-day ‘Free plastic surgery, cosmetic and hand surgery’ camp for burn deformities at Shirur held by Pune-based Dr Pankaj Jindal.
The camp was organised on Saturday and Sunday. Dr Jindal said such camps are very helpful for burn victims from villages as the number is significantly larger where patients suffer disfigurement, making them economically handicapped and dependent.
Two plastic surgeons and one hand surgeon treated the patients at the camp.
“One lady who suffered burn 20 years ago came with her son. She has lived all these years without surgery. The reason was financial crunch, non-availability of resources and family support. She underwent a successful surgery. Another man came with shoulder elbow wrist burn. The thumb was stuck to the forearm due to the burn. In the first part of surgery, the thumb and wrist were corrected in the camp,” said Dr Jindal. Dhariwal Hospital and Agrawal Club Pune pooled in their resources and reached out to these people during the two-day camp.
There are about 70 lakh people who suffer from burn injuries every year.
“Each of these have a scary and heart wrenching story to share. Patients from village and a poor financial background are victims of tragedies who do not get better treatment as well. To make things worse they have no money and do not know where to go and usually live a life of neglect and liability for everyone around. I have been to villages in the last 18 years to surgically correct such deformities caused due to burn,” said Dr Jindal.
