Ravita with her mother at Dhadgaon Rural Hospital. (Express photo/Prashant Nadkar) Ravita with her mother at Dhadgaon Rural Hospital. (Express photo/Prashant Nadkar)

She wanted to study further and dance to the beats of a dhol on Holi. Those two wishes will now remain unfulfilled. Almost a year after she suffered a spinal injury after falling from a tree and was paralysed waist down, Ravita Valvi, a nine-year-old tribal girl from Nandurbar district who travelled over 450 km for treatment in Mumbai, passed away on Wednesday.

Ravita passed away in her family’s hut on a hillock in Khadkya village, Nandurbar. The young girl was discharged from Nandurbar Civil Hospital this July after prolonged treatment, with a new water bed, meant to prevent bed sores, gifted to her by the district civil surgeon.

Orsing Patle, a resident of Khadkya village, said Ravita would only sleep on the water bed but even that could not prevent her bed sores. “She developed bed sores and infection near her wound a few days ago. There were sores all over her lower back. In the last few days she had stopped eating food or medicines,” he said.

Ravita’s mother Shanti Valvi (50) said the girl’s weight fell sharply after she stopped eating food due to the pain. Last week, she developed fever. Her condition worsened on Tuesday night. “She could not sleep, we were by her side the whole night. By morning, she passed away. Everyone was asking us to take her to hospital, but we had already kept her in hospital for so long,” Shanti said.

The last rites were conducted on Wednesday evening. “We suspect she died of septicaemia,” said Dr Nitin Borke, district health officer.

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On September 29, 2017, Ravita had fallen off a tree while playing with village children after school. Her parents had then placed her in a makeshift stretcher fashioned from an old saree and a bamboo pole, to carry her downhill to Dhadgaon Rural hospital. From there, their journey for medical treatment began — they covered a distance of 467 km, traversing through the length of Maharashtra, from Nandurbar to Dhule, to Nashik and Mumbai, trying to find treatment for the youngest of their 10 children.

Ravita Valvi was paralysed waist down after mishap. (Express photo/Prashant Nadkar/File) Ravita Valvi was paralysed waist down after mishap. (Express photo/Prashant Nadkar/File)

The girl suffered from paraplegia, losing nerve sensations waist down, after a fracture in lumbar 1 and D12 compression. They visited at least five hospitals and were referred to a higher centre each time.

Finally, in Mumbai’s Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) hospital, Ravita underwent a spinal surgery in October 2017. She was discharged in January this year only to require re-hospitalisation due to bed sores in February, first to the rural hospital and then to Nandurbar Civil Hospital. In July, her parents pleaded for her discharge so that they could return to their farm ahead of the monsoon. “We had not worked on the field for almost a year,” father Rajya Valvi (55) said.

“We wanted to keep her admitted in hospital. The family was given an option to keep her in Toranmal Rural hospital where we could have reserved a bed for her. But they were not willing,” said Mallinath Kalshetty, Nandurbar Collector.

According to Nandurbar civil surgeon Dr Raghunath Bhoe, on Ravita’s discharge a letter was issued to Dhadgaon Rural hospital and Primary Health Centre in Son to send a doctor regularly to assess her medical condition. “We did our best,” Bhoe said. He even gifted her a water bed hoping that would prevent bed sores. “But what she also needed was good nursing care,” he said.

According to Dr Dheeraj Sonawane, orthopedic surgeon at GT Hospital, Ravita required rehabilitation therapy and her parents were sensitised about it. “Her last X-ray showed that her spine fracture had healed,” he said.

Dr Ratilal Pawara, medical officer in Son PHC, told The Indian Express that an accredited social health activist (ASHA) was assigned to do a weekly dressing for Ravita. Every week, a family member would take dressing material from Son PHC for the girl. Last week, a multi-purpose health worker, auxiliary midwife nurse and ASHA visited Ravita when she developed fever and infection near her wound. “They asked the family to bring Ravita to hospital. But they were not ready. Their hut is very far but we were willing to arrange an ambulance as far as the road goes,” Pawara said.

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