Bangladesh ‘Gold Girl’ sells medals for father’s treatment

Mahfuza Aktar Shila, ‘Gold Girl of Bangladesh’, who won four gold medals in swimming, including two in South Asian Games 2016 in India, has been forced to sell two medals to bear her father’s treatment cost.Shila, who comes from a poor family living in Abhaynagar sub-district of southwestern Jessore district, bagged two gold medals in the ongoing SA Games 2016 in 100m and 50m breast stroke by setting up a South Asian Games new record in 50m breast stroke.Shila’s father Ali Ahammad Gazi, suffering from heart disease, has become frail due to prolonged illness, and is desperately struggling to make ends meet by selling dairy milk and cultivating land as share cropper.“I started a dairy farm by taking loan from an NGO and am cultivating others’ land to bear expenses of my family but I have failed to run it properly,” Gazi lamented.“Shila sold two gold medals for treatment of my heart disease as I failed to make arrangement for lack of money,” he said with tears rolling down his eyes.Karimon Nesa, mother of the gold girl said, “We bear expenses for Shila’s study and sports by selling milk and taking loan from NGOs and locals.”“My daughter brought the country honour by winning medals abroad but no one tries to understand our misery; how we are running our family or how we support Shila,” added Karimon Nesa.Shila, who has completed her graduation and post-graduation in communication and journalism from University of Chittagong, works as a part-timer with the Bangladesh navy. She has won a total of 52 medals in her swimming career, including four gold medals in the international events.Shila along with her parents and three siblings lives in a tin-shed house, with no electricity connection.Afroza Begum, Shila’s elder sister, said, “Shila had won the first prize in her first district level swimming competition when she was a third grade student.”Abdul Mannan, a well-known swimming trainer of the district, trained her and prepared her for the national level, she added.Later, Shila started her swimming career at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP).During her BKSP days, people chipped in for Shila’s study, said Afroza.“Now, I am hoping that the government will come forward to help this gold girl’s family,” said Shila’s mother.