This story is from October 23, 2019

Kolkata: Mayor-on-call saves life of Birbhum newborn

The mother of a two-month-old kid, for whose treatment the Kolkata mayor had earlier disbursed Rs 6 lakh, met Firhad Hakim at the civic headquarters on Tuesday.
Kolkata: Mayor-on-call saves life of Birbhum newborn
Firhad Hakim with the newborn at KMC headquarters on Tuesday
KOLKATA: The mother of a two-month-old kid, for whose treatment the Kolkata mayor had earlier disbursed Rs 6 lakh, met Firhad Hakim at the civic headquarters on Tuesday.
On August 24, Arpita Ghatak, a resident of Saithia in Birbhum, gave birth to a baby boy. But her happiness was short-lived as the baby developed a life-threatening illness and the family was compelled to bring him to Kolkata for treatment.
After several rounds of refusal at government hospitals, they saw a ray of hope after getting a bed at R N Tagore Institute of Cardiac Sciences on September 4.
But the family from Birbhum could hardly afford the high treatment cost. Out of desperation, Arpita called Hakim when he was holding a “mayor on call” programme the same day. Hakim asked the hospital authorities to arrange for the treatment of the newborn without hesitation and assured that he would pay the money needed for the treatment.
Arpita came to meet Hakim at the KMC headquarters to express her gratitude on Tuesday. The baby boy’s life has been saved after a team of doctors worked tirelessly to keep a constant eye on him. On Tuesday, Hakim even took the baby on his lap.
Recalling the days when her newborn was being refused admission at government hospitals, Ghatak said the only ray of hope was mayor’s word of assurance. “I am really grateful to him for the the wholehearted assistance that was instrumental in saving the life of my baby,” she said.
Hakim said that it gave him immense satisfaction that the initiative the KMC had taken to save the life of the baby proved to be successful. “We will try to replicate the same in the days to come to save more lives,” he added.
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