Bourne teenager vows to help leprosy patients at the Nepal hospital which cared for her as a baby

A teenager whose first family home was a leprosy hospital in Nepal has set herself a challenge to help others who live there.

Marika Timmins spent a month at the Anandaban Hospital in 2011 with her adoptive parents before she started a new life with them in the UK.

Now 14, Marika has just returned from a visit to the hospital where she met children who are suffering from leprosy.

The trip inspired her to raise enough money to cure 100 children of the condition.

Marika said: "Anandaban is such a special place for me and my trip really made me want to learn Nepali. Some of the staff at the hospital are like family to me and cared for me when I was a baby. I would love to be able to chat to them in their first language."

During the trip Marika was able to watch reconstructive surgery being carried out on leprosy patients to restore movement to their hands and feet. She also befriended seven-year-old Kamal who was recently diagnosed with the condition.

Marika said: "Kamal was very shy and afraid when I first saw him on the ward with him mum Premila. His family were so scared of the prejudice surrounding leprosy in Nepal that they hid Kamal’s symptoms. They were even told by a local traditional healer that Kamal had been cursed by a snake god.

"But the truth is leprosy is nothing to be scared of. He just needed antibiotics to cure him.”

A health worker was able to take the boy to Anandaban Hospital for free treatment.

Marika said: “His family would never have been able to afford medical treatment for him so it’s great that leprosy treatment is free at Anandaban Hospital.

"Meeting Kamal made me think it could so easily have been me.”

Marika was adopted by Louise and Paul Timmins when she was 16 months old. Louise is head of fundraising at the The Leprosy Mission and Paul is a chief superintendent with Lincolnshire Police. They heard about Marika through Louise’s job and decided to adopt her after trying for 12 years to have a child of their own.

Marika, a pupil at Bourne Grammar School, said: “I have had amazing opportunities and I want to study hard and become a doctor so I can help people.

“But for now I want to raise as much money as I can so the team at Anandaban can find and cure more children like Kamal. It only costs £24 to find and cure a child of leprosy.”

Marika is training for an obstacle race in the Junior British OCR Championships at Belvoir Castle on Saturday, June 29 to raise money for the cause. People can sponsor her online at www.justgiving.com/page/cure100

Her mum Louise, who joined her on the trip, said: "Through Marika we have an unbreakable bond with Anandaban.

"It was really amazing to take her back to the special place where we first bonded with her. It was so special for her to spend time with the hospital staff who looked after her when she was tiny. It seems so fitting that she wants to train as a doctor herself now.

"I am really proud of Marika for having a heart for children with leprosy and for doing all she can to make sure they are treated. Leprosy is easily cured, yet it continues to blight the poorest and most marginalised communities on earth.

“It robs people of family, mobility, employment and dignity. We need to find each and every child like Kamal who urgently needs treatment."