A three months' old male infant, Santosh Sahoo, son of Mukund Sahoo, resident of Kaimunda village in Hathibari of  Sundargarh district, was admitted to the Aastha Mother and Childcare Hospital here on April 28 with inability to move his right lower limb for about a month and the baby was discharged from hospital recently after complete recovery with the support of a doctor of Nagpur and the Vatsalya Trust.

Earlier the baby had a stormy neonatal period when he was admitted to the same hospital as a 32-week preterm baby with multiple complications like septicemia/meningitis/respiratory failure for which he was ventilated and had to stay in the hospital for three weeks.

The father who is a marginal farmer had already spent a large amount of money despite discounts by the hospital and doctors.

When the baby boy was readmitted,  it was found that he had Pyogenic arthritis (R) hip joint (pus in the joint) with hip dislocation.

This came as a bolt from the blue for the poor parents as the cost of the treatment would be anywhere from Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000. To his good fortune,  Dr Viraj Shingade, renowned Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon of Nagpur had visited Aastha Mother and Childcare hospital here. Dr Shingade decided to operate immediately on the infant without charging any fees in order to save the hip and lower limb. After surgery, a plaster cast was put for three weeks.

With the help of the Vatsalya Trust, the discounted hospital bills were settled once again. The Vatsalya Trust also enabled the infant and parents to travel free of cost to Nagpur for reassessment by the surgeon and provision of a special splint.

The infant is back now and on the road to recovery.

"I am happy that my son is fine now with the support of  Vatsalya and Dr Viraj Shingade," said Mukund Sahoo, father of Santosh.