His problem was that in Sri Lanka the doctors said they would be able to operate on his daughter only after two years.

Hospitals

I visited all the hospitals in the country and the doctors said it would take them at least two years, as a result of which I lost hope, Mr. Siva Sathyaseelan said.

That was not all. Mr.Sathyaseelan with his Sri Lankan Rs. 3,000 monthly salary could not afford treatment elsewhere for his three-month-old S. Brinda.

Having lost hope, the Nuwara Eliya district resident was wondering what to do.

And that was when he received help.

Visit

By a quirk of fate, his father`s friend A.K. Ramasamy, a Sri Lankan who lives in India, during his visit to the island nation spotted him at a tea shop, which led to his landing in India a couple of days ago and in Erode on Saturday.

Mr. Ramasamy says after taking to Mr. Sathyaseelan he came to know of his daughter`s cleft lip and the financial constraint and decided to help.

Through my friends in Sri Lanka and India, I managed to help him with some money, he says, adding that the donors who helped included cricket Muthaiah Muralidharan`s cousin M. Durairaja.

Mr. Sathyaseelan`s wife P. Poongavanam says they borrowed Sri Lankan Rs. 50,000 for passport, visa and other expenses in order to get Brinda treated for the problem.

On Sunday at the free cleft lip screening camp, organised by Erode Idhayam Narpani Iyakkam Trust, doctors screened Brinda.

The Trust`s Secretary Mahadevan says the baby will be taken to Chennai in a couple of days and operated upon.

After the surgery, she will under observation for about 10 days and thereafter discharged.

Brinda`s second operation to rectify the problem was likely to be performed when she was three years old.