University student injured in shelling faces financial hardship for treatment

By Myo Thiri Kyaw 03 Nov 2020

Myo Thiri Kyaw | DMG
3 November 2020, Sittwe 

A university student from Nyaungkan village in Arakan State’s Myebon Township who sustained shrapnel wounds to her head is struggling to afford medical treatment, according to family members. 

Ma Hnin Yu Hlaing has been out of the hospital for a week after receiving treatment at Sittwe General Hospital, and she is currently sheltering in an IDP camp at the Alodawpyae Monastery in Sittwe. Ma Hnin Yu Hlaing is not yet able to speak or walk normally, said her father, U Maung Phyu Thein. 

“Two pieces of shrapnel went into my daughter’s head. One piece of shrapnel has been pulled out of her head but I am worried that something might happen to my daughter because one piece of shrapnel in her nerve has not yet been removed,” he said. 

Ma Hnin Yu Hlaing is a third-year student majoring in history at Sittwe University, and family members worry that she may not complete her education due to the nerve injury, said Daw Sein Than Yee, the victim’s mother. 

“I am worried that we will not be able to fulfill her dream of becoming a schoolteacher. My daughter is depressed very much and she doesn’t say a word, but she cries,” Daw Sein Than Yee explained. 

The family wants donors to help their daughter receive additional medical treatment because they have only K1 million (US$780), family members said. 

Five people were killed and 10 others were injured, including Ma Hnin Yu Hlaing, when an artillery shell fell and exploded in Nyaungkan village on September 8. 

Ma Hnin Yu Hlaing was discharged from the hospital on October 26 after two days at Kanhtaunggyi Hospital and 46 days at Sittwe General Hospital. 

From June to November 3, more than 120 civilians were injured in the conflict between the military and the Arakan Army in Arakan State, with the civilian death toll rising by 46 over that period.