Little Hilda Mensah, a six-year-old kindergarten one pupil of the R.P. Baffoe Anglican School at Elmina, who suffered a compound fracture on the left thigh-bone while playing, could face a life-threatening condition, if efforts are not made to give her the necessary medical treatment.
Hilda, third among four siblings, now limps and has dropped out of school one year after the mishap.
Her mother, 27-year-old Mena Aya from Elmina, told the Daily Graphic that Hilda was first taken to the Central Regional Hospital in Cape Coast,where she was treated and referred to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra for further treatment.
Mena Aya, who claims to be unemployed, said for lack of funds she could not send Hilda to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, since she had not registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Besides, she said, the girl�s father, Kwamena Mensah, a carpenter, could also not raise funds to meet the expected medical expenses.
Mena Aya said she was compelled to rely on herbal treatment for some time but the broken thigh-bone, which would not heal.
Currently, the sore with a protruding bone in it, is cleaned with mentholated spirit and wrapped with a piece of cloth.
According to Mena Aya, Hilda, who was healthy and well-built, had now grown lean and could hardly eat or sleep due to the impact of the accident.
She said even though she had now registered with the NHIS, the attendant, who is in charge of dressing wounds, refused to dress the sore when she took Hilda to the Elmina Health Centre.
She said upon the promptings of a nurse, an official of the Department of Social Welfare at the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipal Assembly accompanied them to the Elmina Health Centre, yet the attendant would not dress the sore.
Asked whether she reported the matter to the authorities at the health centre, she replied in the negative.
Ms. Mena Aya has appealed to the public and philanthropists as well as corporate bodies, to extend assistance to the little girl to avert the condition and save her future.
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