Holyfield Pleads For Ailing Indian
July 21, 2005
Washington: Former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield turned up at the State Department with eight Indian orphan girls in tow, to plead for a visa for the caretaker of a ninth orphan fighting for her life at a Children’s Hospital in Washington, reported The Washington Times yesterday.
“One of the little girls has diabetes and is in critical condition. Her caretaker needs to come but can’t get a visa,” said Holyfield in a telephone interview as he stood outside the State Department’s doors.
According to a letter handed over to the newspaper the hospital explained that it could not release the child without training her custodian on how to monitor 11-year-old Shyamala Peddibotla’s blood sugar level and administer shots of insulin.
If the caregiver — a woman who has tended to Shyamala for the past five years — does not receive a visa, Holyfield said, the child’s position “is kind of bleak.”
Global Peace Initiative (GPI), an organisation that works with street children, widows and refugees, had put together a world tour for the girls which included a state dinner organised by Arkansas Governer Mike Huckabee and a private reception at the home of Carl Lindner, owner of the Cincinnati Reds.
When the visas for the girls’ three caregivers from an orphanage in Hyderabad, India, were refused, an Indian lawmaker accompanied the girls.
But Shyamala became seriously ill in Washington on Thursday night, and was rushed to the hospital. GPI coordinator Doug Dodson said she was on the verge of slipping into a coma and diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.
“Rescued off the streets, the only mother this little girl has is caregiver—Lakshmi Chodisetty.” Dodson said. He said the visa had been denied without any explanation by the U.S. consular section in Madras, India.
K.A. Paul, who heads GPI and has placed hundreds of thousands of orphans around the world, was frustrated by the State Department’s slow response.
The standoff finally ended late afternoon when Maura Harty, assistant state secretary for consular affairs assured the group that she would apprise officials in Madras of the situation.
