Critical Juncture 5: Civilian Encounter

Amid the dense foliage along the team’s route, progress is abruptly halted ~3 km from the Extraction Point by an unexpected figure: a young boy, his face a canvas of desperation and fear standing directly in your path.  With hurried breaths, he implores your team for help, leading you off course to a nearby, makeshift shelter.  There, you are confronted with a scene of raw human vulnerability: a family of five, including two parents worn by worry, an elderly grandparent, and another child, the boy’s younger brother, suffering from a severe wound that has been grievously neglected.

Your team’s Special Operations Medic quickly evaluates the boy.  The wound’s grim reality unfolds: it’s not just a cut but a festering entry point for bacteria, with signs of systemic infection that could swiftly overwhelm the young boy’s defenses. The surrounding skin is inflamed, hot to the touch and swelling, with streaks that reaffirm the infection’s advanced stage.  Without professional medical support, it’s clear that the infection from the boy’s untreated wound will progress to sepsis, potentially leading to death.

The family shares their story in muted tones, a narrative of resilience turned perilous due to their support for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) through acts as seemingly benign as the provision of food and water. Such acts, they explain, have painted targets on their backs, forcing them into hiding to escape the Tatmadaw’s brutal retaliation.  Beyond the fate of the youngest, this family’s situation is hanging in the balance and now in your hands.