Help Ketut Reti

I have recently had much contact with a Balinese woman called Ketut Reti, and want to share her story with you. She is a very stoic human being, and I really admire her courage and her determination to improve her condition. She deserves a chance - perhaps you can consider helping her by donating to the trust fund yoga teacher Linda Madani is setting up for her:

Ketut became ill in 1984 with what the doctor at the time thought was typhus. She was twelve years old. Three days previous to her illness she had fallen into a rice field but wasn't hurt. When her fever didn't come down her family took her to the hospital, but her condition didn't improve. The doctors said that her illness was stemming from her stomach so they operated on her stomach.

Unfortunately after the operation her condition was still not improving and her fever kept increasing, and consequently the doctors decided to operate again to fix the first operation. After the second operation, the fever went finally down but her left calf became extremely swollen and this was then operated on.

The swelling then moved to her left ankle and this was also operated on. Ketut had to lie on her right side for the next three months. During that time she couldn't eat and could only receive IVs - 80 bottles all together.

During this time Ketut had become skin and bones. Eventually, the IV blocked and the doctor had to operate on her right elbow. After this last operation the doctor knew Ketut needed food to regain her strength. She started eating a little to save her life. She was finally sent back home after four months in the hospital.

After she went back home Ketut couldn't walk. The family hired the services of a local masseur to massage her. They kept going back to see the doctor but the condition of the poor girl wasn't improving at all.

One month after her discharge from the hospital, she went back to see the doctor for some tests and the doctor said that her left hip was dislocated and somehow fused. The bones were covered with flesh and the hip couldn't be moved. No one was sure what happened - it was suggested that the masseur may have injured her. It may also have been because she was lying on her right side for months.

The doctors demanded a very high amount of money to operate on her again, but her family was never able to come up with the money and that was 20 years ago.

Ketut has been living with constant pain ever since. Her left leg is shorter by six centimetres and her right arm is not straight.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO CONTACT LINDA AND DONATE TO THE TRUST FUND TO HELP KETUT HAVE A NEW OPERATION.