Posted by: Prad February 13, 2009
Irony: Nepali infant girl who captured American hearts is dead
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Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=1941

KATHMANDU, Feb 13:
A Nepali infant who captured the hearts of people in Virginia by
successfully undergoing cleft-palate surgery two months ago, was found
dead in a bathtub this week, the Miami Herald reported Thursday.

Nine-month-old Tendral Meytok Gurung, who was abandoned by her parents
in a Nepalese Himalayan village owing to her facial deformity, was
brought by a Buddhist nun Lama Tenzin to Virginia last year where she
received a free cleft-palate surgery at Operation Smile, a medical
charity that has treated thousands of children with facial deformities
since 1982.

She died on Tuesday in a tub in Sunny Isles Beach where she was left
unattended to for half-an-hour by her caretaker and Tenzin’s sister
Samchue Negi.

Police have arrested Negi and charged her with child neglect and
aggravated manslaughter of a child. Police say Negi left the infant
unattended to while she talked on the phone.

The woman and the baby were staying at the home of a couple who
financed their trip to the United States so the baby could receive
cleft-palate surgery.


Tendral first made headlines in December when Negi took her to Hampton

Roads, Virginia, for free treatment to fix her cleft lip and cleft
palate, according to The Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

´´The little girl recovered quickly and was a smiling, gurgling
highlight of the international charity´s world summit meeting in
January,´´ a Virginian-Pilot story said Wednesday, the day after
Tendral was found dead.

The article said that during her passage through Virginia, Tendral had
``inspired schoolchildren, brought adults to tears and even had several
people offer to adopt her.´´

Negi was the primary caretaker responsible for the care of the female
infant, the police said in a statement. ``The subject [Negi] prepared a
bath for the victim, and then left the victim unattended for
approximately 30 minutes while she participated in a telephone
conversation in a separate room.

``The victim was then discovered unresponsive by the subject.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and transported the victim to the
hospital, where she was pronounced deceased. The subject was arrested
and charged.´´

A statement from Operation Smile said the charity was ``shocked and
saddened to hear of the devastating, tragic death of 9-month-old
Tendral Meytok Gurung in Florida. . . . We are distraught that her
chance has been cut so short.´´

The statement said Tendral came to the United States for treatment on
Dec. 18 and that Operation Smile co-founder and chief executive officer
Dr. Bill Magee performed the surgery.

´´Tendral was released from the hospital two days later for
recuperation in Virginia,´´ the statement said. ``Nearly one month
later, she was fully recovered and there was no planned follow-up.´´

Last edited: 13-Feb-09 12:28 PM
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