The ghastly terror attack in Malleswaram on April 17, 2013 may be etched in the minds of witnesses, but 21-year-old Leesha N.S. is reliving the blast every day as she battles to save her limb.
Leesha suffered a severe fracture as a metal splinter got lodged in her left ankle. She underwent seven surgeries of which three failed. The last surgery was in December 2014. Doctors have said that it may take her another year to recover.
She often suffers severe back ache due to the multiple surgeries on the back ribs and pain killers are her constant companion. She is partially immobile and needs the help of a walker. Her left leg is still fitted with an Illizarov External Fixator, a metallic frame that helps her bone grow. “I was a Bharatanatyam student. Today, I dream of just walking normally one day,” she laments. She needs help from another person even to bathe and walk. She rests her injured left leg on a chair in her classroom. “All these efforts are to save my leg from amputation. Sometimes, it gets so frustrating,” she rued almost in tears.
The government has reimbursed close to Rs. 6 lakh for the treatment and her father Doraiswamy Raju has spent close to another Rs. 6 lakh in these two years. “While the doctors prescribe multiple surgeries, the health department officials are fed up of seeing us. They suspect us of cooking up the bills. It’s humiliating,” she says.
Leesha is now in the fourth semester of a Bachelors of Computer Applications (BCA) course in Maharani Ammanni College, Malleswaram.
