12 September: Another tiny victim of Giulesti dies this morning

One more of the surviving six babies fighting for their lives after the fire at Giulesti twenty seven days ago left them severely burnt and on life-support died this morning at G.Alexandrescu Hospital, says Ziare, bringing the total number of new-born victims now to six.

The baby had been continually intubated since his arrival at the G.Alexandrescu Hospital and was the most critically ill of the six, suffering from pneumonia, carbon monoxide poisoning, kidney failure and 45-50% burns to his tiny body. He had been revived twice following two heart attacks. Vai de mine, how much can a miniscule little body endure over twenty seven days... The remaining five are said to be doing as well as can be expected, have put on weight and are being continually monitored on ITU.

I cannot begin to imagine the pain racking the surviving babies, nor the psychological agony of their parents and the terrible grief of those who have had to bury their new-borns over the last month following the appalling tragedy at Giulesti.

Florentina Carstea remains in prison and this news must be excruciating for her, too, for whatever her portion of guilt, she loved the babies for whom she cared in a necrotic, terminally ill system run by people who couldn't have cared less. Vasile Dima and Adrian Toma remain free whilst under supposed investigation. Marinescu and Ranga are...where exactly? We don't have a single titbit of news. Cseke remains in office... even after the cabinet reshuffle, nothing has changed. Sure, Oprescu has seen to it that Giulesti ITU has been revamped and fire detection equipment apparently installed (or about to be) in all hospitals under Townhall jurisdiction. But this is not enough. Indeed, nothing has changed. The Boc government continues to freeze jobs and wards are run at a less than minimum staff limit... These six babies, five now buried and another soon to be, are all victims of Roumania's inhuman, totally failed and highly incompetent health system.

May this little baby, innocent in all this mess, unable to run, unable to be heard, rest in peace. May his parents somehow find the strength to deal with their loss and grief in a country where the government condemns babies to death in a desperately sick health system.

This morning, I had breakfast with a Roumanian friend studying here. She has always said she would move back when her studies are done and dusted for she misses her family dreadfully. With tears plopping into her tea she told me that she had decided not to go home for good. Just for holidays. "Roumania is dying," she said. "It has gone past the point of no return...as long as Boc, Basescu, idiots like that Udrea are in government - all securists - there is nothing to be done. I dreamed that with my studies, me and the 20-30 friends who've all left to study abroad, y'know, I thought we could all go home and do something, make a difference, do something good for our country. But now I know that if we ever did, whatever we created would be taken away as soon as it was successful, that we would be stripped of anything we tried to do... our best chances are outside Roumania now." It was the most depressing conversation we had ever had for we have, both of us, always had some hope, no matter how small, how remote. Hope that people would rise up, people would demand change, the government would be overthrown and someone better take the chair in Basescu's place. Now we realise how naive we were and how hopeless the situation is. My friend is right. Roumania is dying... and this morning I felt the light I have in my heart for this beautiful country begin to dim. It hurts beyond comprehension.

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