BENGALURU: A 10-month-old baby girl in a medical emergency was brought from Kannur in Kerala to Bengaluru in just about four hours, covering a distance of 309km through a green corridor on Wednesday. The ambulance carrying Inara Mariam and her parents left Kannur at 10.50am and reached Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road, at 3.05pm.
Inara is suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disorder, and was brought to Bengaluru as she had difficulty in breathing due to pneumonitis, which is a result of saliva dropping into the airways. The girl travelled all the way with oxygen support. Another ambulance also had life support system if needed. Prior to this, she was treated for 22 days in a Kannurhospital.
From Kannur to Bengaluru, the girl received immense support as a convoy of five vehicles, including three ambulances, sped through the road. While many were aware of the girl’s emergency travel, several onlookers made videos of the vehicles coming in high speed. Aspiration pneumonia is a lung infection caused by inhaled oral or gastric contents. SMA is a genetic disease caused by the loss of nerve cells in the spinal cord, which carry electrical signs from the brain to muscles.
“Children suffering from SMA lack the muscle coordination to even swallow saliva, and it can lead to Aspiration Pneumonitis, which we suspect in this case,” said Dr Ilin Kinimi, paediatric pulmonologist from Manipal Hospitals. The girl will be sent to Bangalore Baptist Hospital once her condition stabilises, said Dr Kinimi, who is also part of the centre for neuromuscular excellence in Baptist hospital.
The child’s father Mohammed Rashid said she is in need of zolgensma, a drug costing Rs 16 crore per dose, for which fundraising is going on.
