Bullet stuck inside 8-year-old girl's head

PIC: Little Mariam, pictured left with her mother Rukia. On the right is an x-ray showing the bullet inside her head. (Credit: Violet Nabatanzi)

KAMPALA - A young girl, enduring severe pain, has been hospitalized with a stray bullet inside her head.

Eight-year-old Mariam Namubiru is now under the close watch of her distraught mother Rukia Namutosi at Mulago Hospital in Kampala.

And the inconsolable mother is on the edge of breaking down in tears as she tells of the freak accident.

"On the fateful day, I was having lunch with my four children. Then we heard something like a stone passing through the roof.

"Immediately Namubiru fell down crying, with blood oozing from her head."

This happened mid-last week at their home in Nsambya West during lunch time.

Pandemonium ensued. A panicked Namutosi yelled for help, attracting the attention of neighbours who immediately rushed to their rescue.

They then took the bleeding girl to a nearby laboratory in Nsambya where it was confirmed that it was a bullet that had hit the little girl.

They were referred to Mulago for specialized care - which they heeded.

Dr. Michael Muhumuza, the head of the Neuro-surgery Ward at Mulago, also confirmed that bullet had gotten stuck inside the girl's head.

For now, the bullet cannot be removed because a procedure might cause more damage to the brain, he added.

Muhumuza said the girl has since undergone an operation and the wound where the bullet penetrated the head was sealed and she is recovering - though in pain.

It has been a costly week for the struggling family though. Namutosi said that since the freak incident, they have spent as much as sh600,000 on drugs, brain CT-scan and x-rays. The brain scan was done at Nakasero Hospital.

She said they opened a case at Nsambya West Police Post and that she was also interviewed by detectives while in hospital.

A housewife, Namutosi said her husband Haruna Mayanja who works in Mbarara district as a welder has been supportive but still the drugs are very expensive. In fact, she was forced to get a loan from one of her friends to save her child.

She is now appealing for help. She can be reached directly via mobile phone on 0784702333.

Meanwhile, police deputy public relations officer Emilian Kayima said they will use forensic experts to find out whether it is a bullet and which type of gun was used.

They will also want to find out what type of activity was going on leading to the said incident.

In 2011, international media ran a story of a man survived with a bullet in his brain for 30 years after his then-wife shot him with a gun he had bought for her as a gift.