Palakkad, Jan 2 Nine-year-old Vinodini, who lost her right arm following an alleged treatment lapse at the Palakkad District Hospital in Kerala, is still waiting for a prosthetic arm, months after the incident altered her childhood forever.
As the new year began, Vinodini remained at home, away from school, clinging to a simple resolve that she would return to her classroom only after she got her new hand.
“After getting my hand, I will return to my class. I aim to be a doctor,” the young girl said softly, her determination belying her age.
Her mother said that Vinodini speaks about the prosthetic arm constantly. “All the time she talks about it. We are eagerly waiting,” she said, her voice heavy with uncertainty.
The incident took place on September 24, 2025, when Vinodini fell while playing with her brother near their home.
She was first taken to the Chittur Taluk Hospital, from where doctors referred her to the Palakkad District Hospital after diagnosing a fracture and a wound on her right arm.
The arm was placed in a plaster cast, but complications soon followed.
Blisters developed on her fingers, and when the family rushed her back to the hospital, the arm condition had already deteriorated severely.
She was shifted to the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital, where doctors had no option but to amputate her arm to save her life.
The family alleges that during Vinodini’s treatment and in the aftermath, repeated appeals to the government and the Health Department for financial and rehabilitative support went unanswered.
Eventually, Rs 2 lakh was sanctioned from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.
But the amount, they say, falls far short of what is required for a functional prosthetic limb and long-term rehabilitation.
Vinodini lives with her family in a single-room house, with no means to raise the substantial sum needed for the artificial arm.
Despite the setback, she refuses to give up.
She has taught herself to write and draw with her left hand, spending her days sketching, studying on her own, and preparing mentally for a return to school.
Her mother has approached the District Collector, seeking urgent intervention, “we simply don’t have the money,” she said.
For Vinodini, the wait is not just for a prosthetic arm -- it is for a chance to reclaim her childhood, her education, and a dream she refuses to abandon.
Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan, hearing the tale of Vinodini, said he has decided to make arrangements for the purchase of the prosthetic arm. "I felt sad hearing that the girl was not going to school. Tomorrow, the arrangements for getting a prosthetic arm will be done, and I have spoken to the parents and asked her to go to school," he said.
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