NEW DELHI: For Nishant Dev to win a bronze medal at the boxing world championships recently, a substantial credit should also go to Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala – the famous orthopedic surgeon who saved star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s career with a timely and critical surgery back in 2019.
Back in 2010, Nishant had dislocated his right shoulder after a fall from the stairs. A rod was put on his shoulder that time. But, over the time, the rod got infected.
“Gradually the infection led to the formation of pus. The pus started spreading. From 2017 onwards, I was in immense pain. It also affected the bone marrow. It was a half-boil pus of around 18mm,” Nishant told TOI.
An immediate surgery was required. Any delay would have resulted in the arm getting amputated.
“Last year (early 2022), I was sent to Mumbai by JSW Sports. They have backed me and I am really thankful to them. In Mumbai, Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala performed a complex surgery in March 2022, and subsequently I was in rehab for the remainder of the year,” said Nishant.
Nishant was eager to come back to the ring. “Everyone at the national circuit thought I was injured and would be out for a long time. My weight had increased to 82kg. But anyhow I wanted to participate at the world championships because last year I had missed the Commonwealth Games as well as the Asian championship. I worked on my skills day in and day out. What kept me going was my self-belief and that burning ambition to win a medal at the world championships.”
The regret of not being the world champion is there, but Nishant is now focusing on the Asian Games. “There is a good chance that I might face the Kazakh boxer (who beat him in the semis of the world championships) at the Asiad in one of the rounds, and I am sure I’ll beat him that time,” he added.
