Doctor on shackled siblings' recovery: 'It's not going to be achieved overnight'

The staff of a Southern California hospital was reduced to tears at the sight of seven of the 13 malnourished siblings who were admitted after authorities discovered they were being held captive by their parents, officials from the Corona Regional Medical Center told ABC News. Those seven siblings are all adults.
"It's that profound when you see what they're going through," hospital CEO and Chief Managing Director Mark Uffer told ABC News of the staff's somber reaction. "How does this happen?"
On Sunday, a 17-year-old girl escaped her home in Perris -- about 27 miles south of San Bernardino, California -- through a window and called 911, telling dispatchers that she and her 12 brothers and sisters were being held captive, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
When responding officers arrived, the teen was so emaciated that they said she "appeared to be only 10 years old." Other siblings, who range in age from 2 to 29, were allegedly "shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings" and appeared to be "very dirty" according to the Sheriff's Office.
The Corona Regional Medical Center in Corona, California, is treating all seven of the adult siblings -- five females and two males ages 18 to 29 -- Uffer said, adding that he has never seen mistreatment of "this magnitude."
Dr. Fari Kamalpour, the hospital's director of internal medicine, told ABC News that her "first impression" when she saw the siblings was that she was in the pediatric unit.
"When we first saw them, everybody thought they were children," Uffer said.
The malnourishment that the siblings endured was "systematic" and occurred over a long period of time, Kamalpour said.
"This doesn't happen over three months or six months," Uffer said. "When you see malnutrition in people, it's years."
The malnutrition "absolutely" impacted the children's cognitive and physical development, and the staggering development tends to progressively get worse over time, Kamalpour said.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kim Kardashian wears bizarre nineties outfit - complete with BUM BAG - whilst pregnant Khloe almost flashes knickers in TINY dress

Image
The reality stars have taken some risks in their time, but high-tops and a bum bag could perhaps be a step too far She's not one to shy away from dipping her toe into a new fashion trend or three. But Kim Kardashian's outdone herself this time, taking major style cues from TV ledge Anneka Rice. The reality star interestingly chose to accessorize her kooky blue dress with chunky white trainers (Yeezys, we presume), white socks pulled up and a twonking bum bag. Rocking her new pink hair, the 37-year-old looked like she's raided her 13-year-old self's wardrobe, but hey, it's all about the nineties, right? Meanwhile, her pregnant sister Khloe narrowly avoided a major wardrobe malfunction when the hem of her tiny bodycon dress rode up dangerously high as they shopped in Tokyo on Tuesday. Nevertheless, at eight months pregnant she looked fierce in a pair of over-the-knee camo boots, which she paired with a floor-length khaki overcoat. Also along for th
Read more

Oprah highlights story of black woman raped by white men

Oprah  Winfrey shared the spotlight with another woman in her speech accepting a lifetime achievement award at the  Golden Globes  on Sunday night. Recy Taylor has not been a well-known figure, but Winfrey's touching on her story and a new documentary are bringing attention to an incident of racial injustice and sexual violence in the Jim Crow South. Taylor, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 97, was the victim of a violent rape as a young woman. In 1944, Taylor was 24 years old and walking home from church in Abbeville, Alabama, when she was abducted and raped by six white men. Some accounts say seven white men were involved. She was left on the side of the road by her attackers.
Read more