Katha gets a new lease of life

A news story on a three-year tiny tot named Katha published in a national daily touched Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan deeply as the girl has been suffering from a cardiac disease for long. Soon after the story was published, the Bashundhara Group chairman took an immediate attempt to ensure medical expenses of Katha, requesting his media adviser Mohammad Abu Tayeb to collect details about her family. An investigative report was run under the headline “Wouldn’t Katha speak anymore?” in the Prothom Alo on September 23. The report drew due attention of the chairman of country’s top business conglomerate Bashundhara Group. “Life of a three-year-old child is threatened as her parent is unable to afford her heart treatment. It is agonising that an innocent child will leave this beautiful world without proper medication. Immediately contact Katha’s family and admit her to a hospital.” Ahmed Akbar Sobhan told his media adviser in one breath. In a quick succession, Bashundhara officials contacted Katha’s family. Katha’s mother Aparna Chowdhury and father Rinku Chandra were unbelievably surprised to find that Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan have come forward to save their only daughter. It apparently seemed to them that the God has come down to save their only loving child. Katha’s heart was operated by cardiac therapist and surgeon Dr MH Millat at city’s Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital on October 3. Noted cardiologist Dr Shahidul Islam directly supervised Katha’s medical care. On October 8, after successful completion of her treatment while leaving the hospital, media officials of Bashundhara Group handed over some gift items to little Katha on behalf of the Bashundhara Group chairman. “I always knew that well-off people should stand by the poor. But I never knew that such a high-profile person could come forward for insignificant people of the society. My family and I will owe a great debt of gratitude to Bashundhara Group for the rest of our life,” said Katha’s mother. Aparna Chowdhury thanked the Bashundhara Group chairman for standing beside Katha in time of her medical attention and lending his helping hand for her daughter’s treatment.