SOLOMON Forest Association (SFA) is the latest organisation to pay its tribute to Linta Mabo – the 16-year-old school girl who lost her battle against a curable heart problem.
Linta – the youngest of a twin sister – died on Thursday 2nd December after battling rheumatic fever which affected her heart for four years.
Linta’s parents – Gretal Loice and her husband, Jimmy Primo – yesterday received financial assistance from SFA towards the costs they had incurred during their daughter’s death.
“The SFA is truly saddened by the loss of your daughter and we offer our condolences,” SFA Vice President, Austin Holmes told the couple yesterday.
“It was truly tragic that this has happened. SFA has in fact offered the money to send her to Australia for the operation. But we don’t know what happened because we were waiting on the Ministry of Health and Medical Services to provide us details of the travel and hospital arrangements in Australia. That never came,” Mr. Holmes said.
“Our donation is a token of heart-felt condolences and sympathy from all of us at SFA,” he told the couple.
Linta’s mother provided background to what the family and friends had to go through in pushing authorities to get the sick girl to Australia as soon as possible.
Her ailment was first diagnosed in 2015. A visit by a team of heart specialists from Sydney in 2018 told the National Referral Hospital that Linta must undergo operation immediately.
“They said Linta must be on the priority list for medical attention in Australia.”
A hospital was found and SFA, through urging by former Police Commissioner, Frank Short, announced that it would fund the girl’s travel and hospital operations as long as the National Referral Hospital provide details for where the funds would go.
At the same time, friends of the late Linta launched a fundraising drive to help raise funds for her trip. They did.
Loice and her husband Primo said they are very grateful for SFA’s support.
“While it would not bring back Linta, it has eased some of the financial burdens we had incurred during her sufferings and also when she died,” they said.
But the four years’ wait for a life-saving trip to Australia came to an end earlier this month.
While Linta suffered quietly, two government ministers were airlifted to Brisbane this year – one for a review of an existing condition, the other was a new case.
The one with a new case died in Honiara a week after he arrived back from Brisbane in late November.
On Thursday 2nd December 2021 Linta Mabo lost her battle to live. She died peacefully at Roghavolo Village, GPPOL 2 in North Guadalcanal.
By ALFRED SASAKO
Newsroom, Honiara
