The infection, rheumatic fever, attacks the heart's valves as the body fights the strep throat. Penicillin prevention fails when the injections stop—because the local doctor's clinic runs out, or the cost of travel for the monthly *tika* becomes too much. From my own life, I stopped at sixteen, thinking my strong *pahadi* heart had outgrown it; now this damaged valve says otherwise. The mountain air is free, but prevention is not.
#athletics#track-and-field
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