India - Inderjit Swarup Update

Broadcast: 01/05/2007

Reporter: Peter Lloyd

Transcript

LLOYD: Meet Inderjit Swarup. We found him in the corridor of New Delhi's biggest and busiest public hospital in 2005. Inderjit was born with a congenital deformity. His bowel protruded through the stomach wall.

RAM SWARUP: His poo canal comes from his stomach. I do not have money, and cannot get him proper treatment.

LLOYD: In the developed world, one operation would most likely have repaired Inderjit's condition but his father, Ram, had been trying for six years, Inderjit's entire life, to make him well. After four operations, Inderjit's intestine was still excreting from his belly. Father and son were on the medical merry-go-round of India's overstretched, under resourced public health system.

RAM SWARUP: I want the doctor's trust. I want my child's life back. I want to bring him up myself. If only he'll get well. He cries to go to school. He cries for an education. He isn't suffering from any disease, he just needs an operation.

LLOYD: Foreign Correspondent was deluged with offers of money for Inderjit. Donations totalling more than thirty three thousand dollars were placed in a trust fund managed by the Australian Medical Association in Queensland.

DR ROBERT SINCLAIR: [AMA, Queensland] A foundation such as the AMAQ is unique in that every dollar that can be raised in this sort of way we will ensure that that dollar gets right through to where it is actually needed.

LLOYD: Queensland AMA President, Robert Sinclair, was moved by Inderjit's plight.

DR ROBERT SINCLAIR: That was just a heart warming thing to see where people said I want to help that little boy and I want every dollar I give you to go to that little boy.

LLOYD: Inderjit and Ram have only each other. Inderjit's mother left home for good shortly after he was born when it became clear that he was a very sick little boy. They live cheek by jowl in a small room situation in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Delhi.

RAM SWARUP: I think only think of Inderjit's well being. For six years I've struggled with his condition. It has been distressing.

LLOYD: Distressing, until the incredible response of TV viewers, halfway around the world.

RAM SWARUP: Everywhere we've been, the doctors have warned us off. The doctors didn't support us. You are the only people who have stood by me.

LLOYD: It's November 2005. Backed by the Trust fund, Inderjit is about to have his fifth operation and he's not happy. Bitter experience has taught him the sight of a nurse or doctor is a sure sign that he's about to have an unpleasant time. To pacify Indy, Ram rides with him to the operating room.

As the medical team prepares Inderjit for surgery, his doctor Kapil Vidyarthi reveals his concerns.

DR KAPIL VIDYARTHI: Probably the child had a perforation during last procedure. But exactly how much problem will be there we'll come to know only during surgery.

LLOYD: Dr Vidyarthi spends an hour trying to re-connect Inderjit's large intestine to his rectum. The question is whether scar tissue from earlier operations will hinder the outcome. Outside in the corridor, a father continues his lonely vigil until yet another operation is over.

DR KAPIL VIDYARTHI: I think we have been able to do a reasonably good job but everything we'll be able to know only when the child starts passing stools - whether the child is having control on that.

LLOYD: Inderjit is frightened and in post operative distress but Ram Swarup has high hopes.

RAM SWARUP: After my child is better, it will be possible for me to do my own work. I can create his future and my own too.

LLOYD: But it wasn't to be. A few weeks later there's been a set back. Inderjit's stomach is still leaking so he's heading back to hospital for yet another operation. Ram has brought some toys but Inderjit is wary and worried.

RAM SWARUP: He doesn't talk much, but sometimes he asks me through gestures why all this has happened to him.

LLOYD: He's wheeled back into OR for his sixth operation. Dr Vidyarthi is trying to finish repairing Inderjit's intestines.

DR KAPIL VIDYARTHI: The last two days I have been quite worried and I was all the time planning how to go, how to take the decision right. I talked to and discussed with a few of my colleagues also.

LLOYD: A few days later, it becomes clear that Inderjit's latest operation hasn't been a success. The stitches inside his body have given way.

DR KAPIL VIDYARTHI: This is definitely a setback, but how big a setback it is we will come to know over the next few days.

LLOYD: Another month passes. It is January 2006. Ram Swarup and Inderjit return to hospital for a check up. The wound is still leaking. Another operation will be needed.

DR KAPIL VIDYARTHI: Probably the blood supply of this intestine is not good enough.

LLOYD: Inderjit's body needs time to heal before it can be attempted. As the months pass, ram carries out the doctor's instructions to improve Inderjit's diet. Money from the Australian trust fund buys milk and vegetables. The key to building strength in a boy whose rate of growth, even by Indian standards, is below average.

RAM SWARUP: I regret that the operation failed but I have hope that a fresh one will make him okay.

LLOYD: Last October, Inderjit was back on the operating table. Doctor Vidyarthi scheduled a seventh procedure. It's the last chance to fix Inderjit's intestines. His body simply can't take any more surgery after this. The procedure involves taking two ends of healthy intestine and joining them together, by-passing a section weakened in previous surgeries.

What's the success rate with this procedure?

DR KAPIL VIDYARTHI: If everything goes well it should be successful. Let us say about 80 to 85 per cent chance of success - with the possibility of 10 to 15 per cent having a complication. But hopefully everything should be all right.

LLOYD: A few hours later it's all over. Inderjit is in recovery and Dr Vidyarthi is quietly confident.

DR KAPIL VIDYARTHI: The God has been very unkind to this child. Let's hope now there is no further problem.

RAM SWARUP: I am asking God for His blessing so that my son gets well, goes home and after that, goes to school. It's been a harrowing seven years. My child has had seven operations. May God make this operation successful.

LLOYD: Three months later, Ram's prayers have finally been answered. Back home, Inderjit is for the first time in his life, playing with the kids from the neighbourhood. And there is another first - he is smiling.

RAM SWARUP: He's feeling very good now. You've all have created a bright future for him.

LLOYD: How do you feel as a dad when you stand here and watch him play with the other kids?

RAM SWARUP: I feel elated.

LLOYD: Inderjit's intestines are now functioning properly, but some things haven't changed, he remains as painfully camera shy as ever.

WOMAN: Inderjit... Inderjit... how do you feel that you are now able to play?

LLOYD: The remaining cash in the trust fund will pay for Inderjit's education. Soon he will go to school for the first time in his life. He may be lost for words but this little boy is healthier, happier and has a better future thanks to Australian donations.