Infant gets badly injured as stray cat almost drags her out of room
A cat in Dhaka Shishu Hospital attacked a very sick six-day-old baby girl, pulled her to drop her on the floor from a phototherapy machine and was dragging her out of the ward when people rescued the infant.
Born on November 30, baby Lamia was taken to the intensive care unit of the hospital on Tuesday immediately after the attack. She suffered scratches and bites on the left side of her body and she was bleeding from her left ear, apparently caused by the fall from the three-feet-high bed. Doctors said she is recovering well.
Lamia was admitted to the hospital on December 5 with multiple issues related to her respiration, nervous system and she had neonatal jaundice too. She was placed on a portable phototherapy machine on her bed for treatment of jaundice.
Around 3:00am on December 6, the cat attacked.
“Oh my God! The cat is taking away the baby,” screamed relatives of other patients in the ward as they saw the cat trying to drag Lamia towards the exit of Ward-2.
Champa, maternal grandmother of Lamia, was staying in with her that night. Champa had gone to sleep moments before.
“I could not believe it. But I saw the cat… white in colour… running away following the hue and cry. The baby was already dragged several feet towards the exit,” said Champa.
She believes that the fall from the bed has perhaps damaged Lamia’s head.
Champa chose not to let her daughter know about her child as it has been only a few days since had to undergo a C-section in Pabna. Champa also fears insult from her daughter’s in-laws since she “failed to protect Lamia”.
Doctor Mashiur Rahman, on duty at the ICU yesterday afternoon, told The Daily Star, “The baby has recovered from the injuries she sustained from the cat attack. Her condition is improving.”
The incident induced fear among other patients in the hospital. Relatives and parents of babies were seen keeping an eye on the doors of their wards since cats are seen in and around the hospitals in groups.
Cats appeared to have liked the hospital as leftover from meals of patients, their relatives and hospital staff are littered around it. The Daily Star correspondent, even yesterday, saw several cats roaming the hallways of the hospital.
The mother of a one-and-a-half-year-old child patient preferring anonymity told The Daily Star, “It reveals the extent of negligence the hospital is being run with…”
The Daily Star tried to reach the hospital director several times for his comments and for information on what has been done to put an end to the cat problem in the hospital. But the director on every occasion did not pick up the calls on his mobile phone or respond to the text sent by the paper.
-With The Daily Star input
