Sumaya’s dream of earning a livelihood for which came to Dhaka has been shattered because of a workplace accident in which she lost her sight.
Physicians have also diagnosed a cancerous tumour in the body as she is now being treated in Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Apparel worker Sumaya, who used to sew clothes that earned foreign currency for the country, is now lying in the hospital bed. She had earlier received treatement in Trauma Centre, Mymensingh Tania Private Hospital, Isphani Islamia Eye Institute and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University since November 2012.
Sumaya, from Jamalpur, who jumped out of the second floor of the Tazreen Fashions at Ashulia when it caught fire on November 24, 2012. She could save her life but became injured in the head.
She has not received any financial help from the factory management or the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association since then. Both the parties at the time said that they would pay for the treatment of all workers wounded in the incident. They also promised Tk 1 lakh in compensation but she has yet to receive the compensation money.
A wailing Sumaya said that she had been worried about her future as she had lost sight in one the eyes.
‘We have not received any help from anyone until her admission to medical college. Sumaya did not even receive her wage for the month when the fire broke out,’ Sumaya’s mother Amirunnesa said.
Syed Ali Ahsan, an ENT specialist at the DMCH, said that a myofibroblastic tumour, which is cancerous, had developed in Sumaya’s nose and spread to the eye and the brain.
‘This is a rare disease in Bangladesh. We had run a surgery on Sumaya’s nose to remove the tumor but some portion of the tumor had reached the eye and the brain,’ he said.
Ahsan said that Sumaya would need radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
Amirunnesa, who is a brick kiln worker, said that they could not pay for the expensive treatment.
‘When the fire broke out, I rushed to the collapsible gate but it was closed. I jumped out of the second floor and later I found myself lying in a hospital bed,’ Sumaya said.
Amirunessa said that her daughter had been treated in a clinic but she could not remember the name. The apparel exporters’ association, however, said that Sumaya had been admitted to Trauma Centre.
Amirnuessa, helpless in the absence of any financial help, took her daughter to a clinic in Myemnsingh.
Sumaya also visited Isphani Islamia Eye Institute and when she felt problems with her eyesight, she got admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University on May 4.
The hospital referred Sumaya to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on May 7.
On July 2, Sumaya was taken to the BGMEA office by the Bangladesh Garments Sramik Federation but the association has declined help as it has no funds for Tazreen victims.
After two days, the association, however, agreed to help Sumaya. BGMEA vice-president Shahidullah Azim said that they would pay for the treatment.
-With New Age input
