Propped into perfect posture with the help of the brace around her waist and back, Swagatika smiles while sitting on the edge of her bed. The brace is a small price to pay compared to the unbearable neck and back pain she experienced just a few months earlier.
Swagatika suffered from tuberculosis and a collapsed vertebra. “The pain was so intense that she could not eat or sleep. Eventually, she was unable to walk altogether,” explains Reena, her caretaker. Swagatika needed immediate aid. When Mercy Hospital learned of her condition, we rushed her to our facilities, approximately 10 hours distance by train, where she is spending a month under our care.