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Credit: Pearl Gan
View winning photos in The Lancet
"My goal is to help in raising awareness of world issues around me. This leprosy photo published in the Lancet was taken in Jalchatra hospital in Bangladesh. I had encountered many problems in this Dhaka trip. It was a life-altering experience for me. I was lucky to have escaped student riots which had frozen the city of Dhaka. I was caught in the unrest and encountered streets being locked down; was holed up for hours, waiting to be saved. Another time, I was trapped in a car while hundreds of students marched down the street with big weapons in their hands. I really had to thank my lucky star for escaping unscathed.
Political unrest was not something we encountered everyday in our life. But to have good memories coming out from a bad experience, that itself definitely deserved a toast. I will never take life for granted after this trip. It is going to take a while to recover from this traumatic trip but the winning photograph is definitely a recognition of my work and I sincerely thanked Professor Kevin Baird and Dr Mary Chambers for believing in me. "