14YO Insha Malik Wanted To Be A Doctor. Today She's A Pellet Victim, Completely Blind And Battling To Stay Alive

Sitting beside her 14-year-old daughter Insha Malik – a pellet victim from Sedow village of south Kashmir’s Shopian, the sobbing mother repeatedly asking only one question:

What was the fault of her child who wanted to become a doctor but now cannot even see the world around her.

She has lost vision in both eyes after a stray pellet hit her on the night of July 10 when she opened window to peek outside at a protest rally going on in the streets around her home.

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She has not only become blind in both eyes but also suffering from a severe brain infection resulting from pellet injury. Bed number 5 at AIIMS Trauma Centre in Delhi has virtually become a home for the grieved after the incident.  

Around 8 PM on the fateful night, the class IX student had been sitting with her mother and siblings in the kitchen on first floor of her house after finishing her studies. She wanted to become a doctor and was studying hard. Clashes were going on all over the valley between protesters and armed forces over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.

Insha got up and peeked out of the window. Suddenly pellets hit her; she let out a sharp cry and collapsed. 

AFP

“She was a brilliant student and wanted to become a doctor. She used to say she will have no time to play next year when she would be in class 10. But everything is finished now. She was an inspiration for her two younger brothers. In addition to being a good student, she was an ideal daughter,” her mother told Indiatimes and broke down with tears rolling over her face.

“I want her eyesight back even if in just one eye. This is my only request,” said the inconsolable mother.

 ‘Zero Chances’ of Regaining Vision

Doctors treating her say there are “zero chances” of the teenager regaining vision in her eyes, which are badly damaged by the pellets.

“The pellets have ruptured her right eye and it has come out. The left eye is lacerated with zero chance of recovery,” said a doctor attending to her. 

She does not even have perception of light in the eye that she is left with. “The pellet injury has resulted in multiple fractures and injuries in her face and skull,” said the doctor.

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The pellets – in addition to causing the loss of vision – have resulted in fracture to her frontal bone (forehead) and nasal bone. She has fracture in her maxillary bone.

“Numerous pellets pierced inside her skull and at the base of her brain. The fractures caused pneumocephalus (a condition where air enters into the brain cavity),” said the doctor.

The doctors are ensuring that her condition remains stable. There is no treatment – they says – which can get her vision back in her eyes given the damage caused by the pellets. “Her fracture will heal up but the damage is done,” said the doctor.

Insha was first admitted at surgical ICU of SMHS hospital in Srinagar but later referred to AIIMS in the national capital on July 24.

‘I’ll Get Well And Able To See Soon’

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Unaware of the lifelong disability, Insha is hopeful of seeing the world again. “As my father says I am being treated at the best hospital in the country. I am sure I will get well and be able to see soon. I will return to my school to study further,” she told Indiatimes in barely audible voice.

Her eyes are covered with soft bandage and her face is swollen and disfigured. She would require multiple surgeries that will be costly, painful and time-taking. 

Even if she gets specialised treatments, doctors are not sure that she would get back her eyesight. They are even ruling out any miracle.

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‘We Are Too Poor To Afford The Cost of Treatment’

Insha’s father Mushtaq Ahmad Lone is a poor farmer who is unable to bear the expenses of specialised treatment of her daughter.

“We are poor. We urge the government to look into our case and help this young girl. We just want her eyesight back. We will celebrate even if she can gain sight in one eye,” he said.

Loan himself suffered a serious leg injury two years ago while he was working as a driver. A steel rod is fixed in his leg.