ONE COURAGEOUS GIRL

Looks can be deceiving, so they say. This is very evident with diminutive Nur A’in Raman who is eighteen. Her physical appearance belies her age and countenance. She can easily be passed for a child not yet pubescent. Nur suffers from kidney failure and colon cancer and requires constant medical treatment and supervision.

But in spite of all these shortcomings she still found the courage to sit for her SPM examination last year. Nur A’in, the fifth of seven siblings, is an ex-student of SMK Raja Perempuan Ipoh. While other teenagers her age are up and moving, she has to undergo haemodialysis and chemotherapy treatments at the Ipoh General Hospital every other day.

“I was diagnosed with cancer when still an infant. When I was seven, the doctors told me that both my kidneys had malfunctioned. It was a double blow but life must go on. So here I am today,” she told Ipoh Echo emphatically when met at the hospital recently.

Besides haemodialysis, she has to undergo water treatment four times a day for her failed kidneys. She has to do follow-up treatments in Kuala Lumpur once every three months. The time spent on the road and in the hospital is exacting a heavy toll on her body, mind and soul.

It can be a painful experience for anyone but to Nur A’in it is simply a necessity, one which she endures with much resolute befitting her demeanour. Her never-say-die attitude keeps her going despite the hardships she encounters.

And since her diseased colon is not functioning, she requires a tube and a bag to defecate. The contraption is an inconvenience, as she has to carry it around. But it doesn’t seem to bother the gritty lass. She has taken things in her stride.

“The medication and the radiation I have been exposed to over the years may have affected my growth hormones,” she lamented, mindful of her size and built.

Her doctors had advised her against moving too much. A home-based kidney machine, they reasoned, would be ideal, but at what cost? Her family could hardly afford one, not on her father’s meagre salary. He is just a clerical staff at a government department in Ipoh.

Nur A’in now pins her hopes on the generosity of Ipohites. It is time again to pool our resources for a good cause.

Those wishing to help can contact Nur’s sister, Fetty Maria (0172240463) or her mother, Rosnah Idris (017-5736867 / 05-3131482). Or you can bank-in your contributions into Maybank saving account No 158172912380 under her sister, Fetty Maria’s name.