French girl hit by dump-truck at Anuradhapura

12 lakhs bill for treatment from government hospital .... to French girl who pursued thief and met with accident

The manner in which a French girl who came on a tour to Sri Lanka and recently met with an accident has resulted in a black-mark being added to the Tourist Industry in this country.
When she was travelling close to Lankaramaya in
Anuradhapura, a brigand had grabbed her travelling bag containing valuable articles and when she had run behind him she had been hit by a tipper truck and was subjected to serious injury. She was then admitted to the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital for treatment and when leaving the hospital she had been charged a sum of over Rs. 12 lakhs.

According to rules and regulations introduced by the Minister of Health, the rule that those who are not citizens of Sri Lanka are not provided treatment from government hospitals free of charge. However the prejudice that she has had to undergo for having come to Sri Lanka on a tour with not a single authority looking into this matter is certainly not a positive message for tourists hoping to come to Sri Lanka in the future.

It was 26 year old Felori Langrurt, a French national living at No. 5, Hant Emily Road, Singapore who sustained injuries after being knocked down by a tipper-truck on the 9th of this month close to Lankaramaya along Watawandanawa Road in Anuradhapura. She had come on a tour to Anuradhapura last 8th with her 26 year old friend Fedrid Bescot living at No. 21, Ricei Road, France.

A thief had waylaid her and robbed a bag containing 1500 US dollars,Rs. 60,000, a Blackberry type of mobile phone worth Rs. 45000 and a Canon digital camera from this girl who met with this accident while cycling towards Lankaramaya across Watawandana route after having visited the Sandakadapahana at the Anuradhapura Atamasthana sacred land.

The girl who became upset by the bag being snatched had pursued the thief on her push cycle and had in the process fallen down at which moment she was runover by a tipper-truck causing her serious injuries. Her hip bone was terribly damaged and several operations had to be carried out on her by doctors at Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital.

It is reported that a sum of close upon Rs. 12,50,000 had been charged from her by the Teaching Hospital as hospital fees.

Experts of the Tourist Industry point out that if the Ministry of Health, Foreign Affairs and Tourism had collectively taken steps to provide an opportunity to treat her without any monetary obligation on her part, it would create some positive attitude towards the government institutions of Sri Lanka or within the international community.

The French girl undergoing treatment at Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital for a period of 3 days had been met by her fiance who arrived in Sri Lanka last 11th and had taken steps to airlift her to Colombo from an aircraft belonging to the Sri Lanka Air Force.

Presently she is undergoing treatment from a private hospital in Colombo and it is expected that she would be taken to France for further treatment. It is revealed that the girl who faced this mishap is in possession of a full health insurance cover and that the insurance company had paid all her compensation.

The Director of the hospital had said that a sum of Rs. six and a half lakhs is to be levied from her for treatment and that two and a half lakhs of that sum has been taken from her as a deposit to be reimbursed and that the said monies had been charged from her for the artificial instrument fixed to her as a consequence of the fracture of her hip bone and other related treatment.

It is doubtful if this girl who would be leaving Sri Lanka or any others in her country who  are aware of her tragedy would ever visit this country.