Help for Injured Survivors of Bangladesh Disaster

“The medical staff and patients of NITOR, and the survivors of this awful incident, we are all extremely grateful toward the kind humanitarian gesture of AmeriCares.”
–Dr. Abdul Awal, director of NITORLying in the hospital in Savar, Bangladesh, Marium wondered about her future. Marium was recovering from the amputation of her right arm, crushed when she was pinned in tons of rubble for more than 36 hours after the eight-story building she worked in collapsed. The single mother of two had tried to move, but the debris held her tight. Once rescue workers freed her and rushed her to Bangladesh’s National Institute of Trauma, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation (NITOR), doctors amputated her injured arm. Marium was one of 1,800 workers hospitalized with injuries after the factory building in Ranar Plaza collapsed on April 24, taking the lives of 1,100 victims. The enormous disaster put pressure on Savar’s health system: supplies of wound care medicines were quickly depleted.AmeriCaresrushed medical aid to NITOR, one of the nearby specialty care hospitals that stepped up to provide immediate surgeries and treatments for disaster victims. The shipment included large quantities of bandages, wound care products, intravenous solutions, antibiotics, pain medicines and surgical supplies needed to treat trauma patients, including those with crush injuries.Rebeka was one of 1,800 workers hospitalized with injuries after the factory building in Ranar Plaza collapsed on April 24, taking the lives of 1,100 victims.Another patient among the 300 survivors who needed urgent surgery after the collapse was Rebeka, 20, who lay under the concrete for three days with her legs crushed. Her husband and rescue workers found her and freed her, but doctors couldn’t save her legs and had to amputate both.Now Rebeka, Marium and hundreds of others survivors must face life with disability. They are not even certain they can get quality prosthetics. Most certainly, they will not work again, which is a huge blow to Marium, whose son and daughter depend on her income for food, a home and school fees.“The medical staff and patients of NITOR, and the survivors of this awful incident, we are all extremely grateful toward the kind humanitarian gesture of AmeriCares,” says Dr. Abdul Awal, director of NITOR. “Your medical assistance is a great relief for us to better serve the survivors of the Savar tragedy.” Donate Now