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Ten-year-old girl suffering from a rare and incurable disease

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18 July 2018 12:00 am - 1     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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They have to spend large sums of money for medical expenses continuously. 

A pathetic story is reported from the distant village of Paragaswewa in Dehiattakandiya where a ten-year-old girl lives, by consuming only beef as her staple diet for five and a half years, due to a rare disease.  

  • Her belly began to swell, while she was being fed. Unlike other children, her bowel movements were confined to discharging only water
  • The child becomes allergic when any food other than beef is given

This little girl P.D. Sithumi Araliya Muthupabalu, is the youngest daughter of P.D. Jayantharatne and V.G. Wijelatha Weerasinghe who live in this village.   

The girl’s mother, V.G.Wijelatha Weerasinghe expressed her views about her daughter’s disease to our sister paper ‘Lankadeepa’ as follows:  

“This child was born on May 30, 2008 as a healthy baby weighing three and a half kilos at birth. She was breast-fed by me. Her belly began to swell, while she was being fed. Unlike other children, her bowel movements were confined to discharging only water. When this situation continued for about a month, I brought her to the Polonnaruwa General Hospital where she was admitted for medical treatment.  She was then transferred to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital in Colombo as her disease could not be cured.”  

She said that her daughter was given all types of food, but the efforts were futile. They had also given green  apples and ‘Anamalu’ plantains in addition to ‘Jeevani’. She had been under medical treatment in that hospital for about 4 ½ years and subsequently brought home. The child had then been unable to walk, her belly was swollen and she could not stand up. According to the girl’s mother, although various types of food had been given, she could not digest anything. 

This is a very rare disease condition known as ‘Glucose-Galactose mal-absorption’ where the patient is unable to absorb any food containing galactose. There are less than 200 such patients identified in the world today

She said further, “I gave her a piece of beef, although we as Buddhists, do not consume beef or bring beef to our home.  However, nothing happened to her like when she consumed other foods. So we continued giving her beef, after which she began to stand up. Now, she is ten years old. We gave her beef for all three meals since she was four years and a half years old. When we did not have money to buy beef, chicken was given, but it did not digest like the beef.”  

According to her mother, the child becomes allergic when any food other than beef is given. Her child attends school now, does school work well and does not seem to be ill. However, her mother has a habit of bringing her home whenever she falls ill during school hours. She did not say that they suffered because of their child’s illness, but they had mortgaged their only paddy field at Rs.600,000 for their daughter’s medical treatment. As a means of livelihood, she had gone to towns like Kandy, Badulla and Polonnaruwa with her mother and begged money from people. When they said that their daughter could only eat beef, people had said that they were not willing to contribute money for such sinful deeds.  

According to the mother, their child is doing well now, but is suffering from diabetes and bladder stones. The medical expenses for all these diseases are borne to some extent by their two elder sons who are employed and in addition, the milk from their cows is sold to meet the expenses. She said that their child is consuming one and a half kilos of beef daily, which is bought from Kaduruwela at a cost of Rs.1,200. As such they are compelled to spend a large amount of money even without a permanent income. They have to spend large sums of money for medical expenses continuously. She bestowed merits on those who contributed money for the survival of their child and she requested for financial assistance from any volunteers.   

Doctor Peduru Arachchi who is attached to the Children’s ward of Dehiattakandiya Base Hospital said, “This is a very rare disease condition known as ‘Glucose-

Galactose mal-absorption’ where the patient is unable to absorb any food containing galactose. There are less than 200 such patients identified in the world today. The food we eat daily including starch (carbohydrates), fruit and vegetables are digested and absorbed due to glucose. As the end result of the digestion of all milk foods, galactose is absorbed to the body. The reason for this disease can be given as the inability of an enzyme to absorb these two compositions within the intestines (small). This is a genetic disease condition and there is no definite medical treatment except taking foods which do not contain the above two nutrients.”  

Beef which has a unique nutritional composition can be used as a food in which there emerge no symptoms of any disease. He explained about the medical treatment in a nutshell, that it was only beef that can be given as food for the survival of the child concerned

According to him, beef which has a unique nutritional composition can be used as a food in which there emerge no symptoms of any disease. He explained about the medical treatment in a nutshell, that it was only beef that can be given as food for the survival of the child concerned.  

The parents of the child suffer endlessly to save the life of this child. Doctors say that the child is in a dangerous situation at present. It has become a problem for the parents to save her life, due to insufficient finances. 

The parents kindly request any benefactors who are willing to make their contribution in a bid to save their child.  

Contact number: 
Dr. Chanith Peduruarachchi – Base hospital, Dehiattakandiya. 
Mobile No. 0713257215


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  Comments - 1

Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka
  • Nethra Tuesday, 24 July 2018 01:57 PM

    Donate a large sum from the lottery's board monthly to the welfare of this child.Our nation our child..


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