Shaniya Persaud, the seven-year-old who was burnt in a fire that gutted her Mon Repos North, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home almost two weeks ago, underwent a skin grafting procedure yesterday in the United States.
Non-governmental organisation Saving Hands Emergency Aid (SHEA) in a Facebook post said Persaud on Thursday opened her eyes for the first time since she was burnt.
“She is in good spirits,” the post stated.
Persaud departed Guyana for emergency medical treatment last Saturday. She arrived in the US the following day and her first phase of treatment began on Monday.
The Mon Repos Primary School student sustained second and third degrees burns to 97% of her body in the fire, which started around 1 am on August 5th at her single-flat house, situated at Lot 101 Mon Repos North.
The house was occupied by Samantha Gayadin and her three children-Persaud and her brothers Akeem Persaud, 9 and Brandon Anthony, 13. At the time of the fire, the children were home alone as Gayadin was attending a wedding in the community.
A decision was made to have Persaud taken overseas after local doctors declared that not much can be done for her here.
Persaud was accepted to the Shriners Hospital in Galveston, Texas, where she is being treated free of cost.
Due to the severity of her burns, she was transported via an air ambulance at the cost of US$40,000, which is equivalent to more than $8 million in local currency.
The cost was covered equally by the Rotary Club of Demerara and SHEA.
SHEA, in a previous Facebook post, had said that Persaud spent the entirety of Sunday meeting with a medical team in order to formulate a treatment plan.
The origin of the fire remains unknown.
