Bijay Tamang an Extra Ordinary Boy

In November 2008 I met the family of Bijay Tamang who lived in the village of Jagot.  I was staying in a guest house in Jagot when his parents approached me.  They spoke to me about their child with tears in their eyes.  I asked to see the child and that evening they brought him to meet me.

He was a very sad child.  They showed me his twisted body; I was not sure what we could do.  I spoke with some doctors following this who explained that there was little to be done; these doctors were British GP’s they told me he had a bad case of Scoliosis.  I was told that this would impair his growth and it was a very serious case.  So I sent his parents away with no hope.  But this was not the end the parents a year later contacted me again to say the child was not growing and they feared that he would never thrive.

I decided to investigate myself so we arranged to get and MRI scan done.  We did this and spoke to specialists in Kathmandu.  We were told that they were prepared to operate.  We met with his parents as the operation was to be a very dangerous one, and the doctors could not guarantee success indeed it could be fatal.  They had done similar operations but Bijays operation would be the first of its kind because of the severity.    His sister came with him to visit us when I was visiting in 2010.  His parents were so keen to give him a chance.  I was very nervous the decision had to come from them. As you can see by the pictures his whole body was affected even his sight.

 The operation was going to cost a lot and so we had to commence to fund raise for this.  I never knew how hard it was all going to be, but I could not let this family down. They came to Kathmandu and we discussed the issues and how we would help but it was a very serious and dangerous operation.

 So it was decided, Bijay was admitted to hospital and it all began.  It was a long haul.  His parents lived at the hospital.  We supported them all the time they took care of their son every single day.  The hospital bill mounted up but we were not deterred.  At one time the Hospital administration was screaming for payment, Binod tried to explain that we would get the money to them.  We gave them funding as we got it in.    The operation was an amazing success. The whole thing was a real pressure for me, not knowing say he died?.  I cannot explain how anxious I was.

 Bijay came out of hospital after many months in a body brace he also had a neck brace as his head tended to fall to one side.  As his body straightened so did his eyes.  He coped with everything very well.  Within no time he was able to go to school.  When I visited again it was amazing to see him growing.  His family have now taken full responsibility and attending follow up appointments. We continued to support the expenses for this.  Bijay by this time was also sponsored by a UK supporter and he could go to school and receive warm clothes and support.

 This year when I visited I was astonished by his growth.  His parents had recently taken him for another follow up appointment, which we did support financially.  But they are now independent of our support.  Bijay still has a sponsor that supports his education and he keeps in touch with her.  He feels he has been so lucky.  This year he won a prize in our Art competition I was so proud of this child seeing his progress and how he has come such a long way with our help and his own determination.  Here he is receiving his prize

Here is his winning picture below;

Freda Casagrande September 2015