Tablut is playful a eight-year-old boy from Burma. In his free time, he enjoys playing football with his friends and hunting with a slingshot in the jungle. He lives with his parents and four sisters in a village near the border in Karen State, Burma. During the day, Tablut and his sisters go to school in the village, while his parents work as agricultural day laborers. They also grow rice for their family to eat, as well as raise chickens and pigs. Together they earn 5,000 baht (approx. 166 USD) per month. The income they earn is just enough to cover their monthly expenses and they cannot afford to pay for other costs that come up including basic health care.
On April 26th, Tablut and his friends climbed up a mango tree to pick mangoes, however, Tablut slipped and fell out of the tree, fracturing his right leg. Right away his thigh looked deformed, and he experienced a lot of pain. His friends ran to get his mother who carried him on her back to a nearby clinic where he was admitted for four days. There the medic wrapped his right thigh in a bandage and gave him medication for his pain. While admitted, his pain lessened but his thigh became swollen and he began to develop a fever which caused him extensive pain and an inability to sleep. His mother was told by the medic that they would arrange transportation to take him to a hospital.
On April 31st, Tablut and his mother were brought to our medical partner’s care center Maharaja Nikon Chiang Mai Hospital (CMH). There, he received an x-ray confirming that his right thigh was fractured. In early May he underwent surgery to place an external fixation device onto his right thigh. Initially, after surgery his pain lessened, however as time has gone on the pain and swelling have returned and he’s once again began to develop fevers at night, as well as blisters on his leg where the external fixation device is attached. Currently, he cannot shower by himself, and cannot move his right leg or walk anywhere without the help of his mother.
With the help of our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, Tablut will undergo surgery on June 17th to reset his fractured bones and ensure proper healing. After surgery, Tablut’s pain will finally subside and he will be able to walk, play, and go back to school to be with his sisters and friends. Our medical partner is asking for $1,500 to fund Tablut’s surgery and medical care.
His mother said, “Now I am miserable. I want my child to receive surgery quickly so that we can go home. I worry for him and I also worry about my other children who were left behind [at home]. There is flooding in my village, and I am worried that they will go to the river to swim. Thinking about both Tablut and my other children, I can’t sleep at night nor eat. The school will reopen soon, but I have not saved any money for my children’s school fees yet. I want him to go to school when he recovers.”
