Four-year-old Sosa takes first helicopter flight to get broken arm treated

FOUR-year-old Sosa Doga had her first helicopter ride with dad Simmy on Tuesday – to have her fractured arm treated at the Oil Search clinic in Moro.
She was accompanied on the 20-minute flight from her Huiya village in Mt Bosavi, Hela, by the Oil Search emergency medical response team who was delivering relief assistance and providing medical assessments of patients at locations they visited.
Oil Search has so far visited 24 villages and conducted medical treatment and health assessments.
Sosa’s dad, Simmy, said the family was asleep at home – a traditional kunai grass-thatched roof – when they were woken by the huge tremor.
Everyone panicked and ran out of the house leaving Sosa behind. When she woke she tried to find her way out too.
She started calling out to her parents and was walking down the steps when she fell awkwardly.
“She started crying in pain, calling my name,’’ Simmy said.
He told the Oil Search emergency response team who visited Huiya on Sunday about his daughter’s condition. The team returned to Huiya on Tuesday and gave Sosa painkillers before taking her by helicopter to Moro. Dad Simmy thanked the Oil Search doctor and nurse who helped Sosa.
“If they didn’t turn up, I don’t know what I would do with my child,’’ Simmy said.
Sosa is now recovering at the Moro clinic and will have a cast placed on her hand.