Beaten and left for dead…Bhojpaul Ramjas, a medical miracle facilitated by SHEA

Mar 06, 2022 News

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By Rehanna Ramsay

Many people would agree that the headlines of many news stories can really have a negative impact on a person’s mental health.

From issues related to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic and now, the growing war in Europe, people often find themselves looking for the silver lining –a sign that not all is lost in the world and better days are ahead.
For Guyana-born New York-based medical charity founder, Lori Narine that omen came in the form of a photograph; a picture of one of the people her team helped provide medical aid for, some  nine years ago.
The patient, Bhojpaul Ramjas has matured into a healthy looking young man who is looking forward to celebrating his 21st birthday in coming weeks.
The photograph of Ramjas is a far cry from the 12-year-old boy who was beaten and left for dead until the US-based Saving Hands Emergency Aid (SHEA), Narine’s medical charity, intervened.
The medical miracle as a result of SHEA’s intervention helped saved the young boy‘s life and serves as a beacon of inspiration, at least for Narine, in these trying times.
As she related via her social media page, “Every now and then we find ourselves stopped in our tracks, feeling the need to pause to catch our breaths…This photo did it for me tonight as I am overwhelmed, with words escaping me, remembering the struggles and battles fought to help save this child. Blessed I am for the support I have received and the friends I made while managing his case,” she said of the photo that made her reminisce.
The SHEA founder noted that Ramjas story has touched many hearts, locally and internationally.
“I am still in close contact with many of his medical team in the US, and they frequently speak of the impact he has made in their lives. They constantly remind me of how they carried him in their arms, because of his inability to sit or stand due to his injuries and the excruciating pain he was in. They acknowledge their gratitude to be part of his healing process.  I am so happy for this now fully healed young man, and so very proud to be in his corner always,” she said.
Speaking to Kaieteur News about her relationship with the former SHEA patient, Narine said Ramjas’ story remains close to her. She noted that the former patient still messages her, especially on special dates.
“For Mothers’ Day, my birthday or Christmas, he messages me and still stays in touch,” Narine said as she marvelled at how much Ramjas has grown.

Narine noted, “When I first heard of Bhojpaul’s story I couldn’t believe how much he was going through. I thought it was a fake story but I networked with some people in Guyana who were able to verify that his condition was true and I knew I had to help him,” Narine stated.
She explained that Ramjas, was lying at home with flesh wounds on parts of his body, basically waiting to die.  “He was suffering badly, his flesh being eaten away and he was in tremendous pain,” Narine added, as she spoke of the then 12 year-old Ramjas.
According to her, his condition was as result of him being beaten by some older boys who bullied him into climbing a light pole and touching a live electrical wire.
The boy had been bullied, beaten, burned and buried in mud, and left for dead until good Samaritans found him and took him to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was admitted for treatment with deep flesh burns to 36 percent of his body.
After several months in the hospital, Ramjas was sent home. However, due to inadequate home care and lack of local medical treatment, he had recurring infections that ate away at his already fragile body.
So, he laid in his bed and waited for either a miracle or death. This child suffered beyond the stretch of words until his aunt visited from the United States and started a campaign to help him. That’s when SHEA stepped in and made a difference in the young man’s life.

SHEA Charity was contacted on September 8, 2015, and the group immediately began working in conjunction with the child’s aunt, Camille Ragnauth, to find treatment services to save his life. Several hospitals responded to their request for treatment, but most of them required upfront payment which was estimated at well over US$300,000.
The Charity then started an online crowd-funding campaign to help offset some of the expenses. Fortunately, through much networking, the group was able to find a hospital to accept Ramjas on a pro-bono basis.
Within one month, the charity was able to coordinate his treatment services, secure medical visas, travel arrangements, housing and meals.   “We also raised US$7,000 in cash through the online fundraiser, which paid for most of these fees, with the exception of his medical treatment costs,” the group said via its website.
As such, Ramjas underwent the life-saving treatment and started on his journey to health. On March 7, 2016 he returned to Guyana a brand new person. He has been on the road to recovery and is now pain free and able to walk; something that he was not able to do before the surgery.
Kaieteur News was able to speak with the young man who lives in Berbice via telephone.  Ramjas, who appeared not too keen about the media attention, related very simply that he is forever grateful for the second chance at life he had been given.

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