MUMBAI: After the death of 24-year-old govinda (dahi handi participant) Sandesh Dalvi following a grievous injury sustained during dahi handi celebrations on Friday, the family of another critically injured player, Prathamesh Sawant, is praying hard for a miracle.
Admitted to Parel's KEM hospital, the 20-year-old suffered a spinal fracture after a fall from the human pyramid that rendered him a quadriplegic-with no sensation or movement in four limbs. Doctors at the ICU called his condition 'critical'. Dean Dr Sangeeta Ravat said they are trying everything to ensure he doesn't suffer muscle paralysis, which would send him on a ventilator for respiratory support.
An orphan, Prathamesh lost his mother to cancer at an early age. In the successive years, he also lost his father to jaundice and sister to an unknown ailment, leaving him under the care of his aunt Vaishali Sawant. On Tuesday, the aunt wore a worried look as Prathamesh's friends tried to check if he could feel any sensation in his fingers and toes. "He feels nothing, hasn't spoken much, and is eating with great difficulty every six hours," said the aunt. "He is such a hardworking boy. I want him to be able to sit up at the least," she said.
Prathamesh, pursuing a course in industrial training, starts his day delivering newspapers and ends as a pizza delivery boy in the evening. His friends said he was a dahi handi enthusiast who participated in month-long training.
He wasn't wearing a security harness or a helmet during dahi handi. "He fell from the second tier as the pyramid collapsed, but many fell on him from the top tiers," said his friend and fellow participant on whose shoulders Prathamesh was standing. "Helmets are usually given to those climbing to the top tiers," he added. Members of the Samar Krida Mandal said the participants were not exhausted as it was just their third handi attempt, and the incident occurred in the afternoon. After Prathamesh's fall in Ghatkopar, they called the day off.
A senior doctor has questioned the government's decision to give dahi handi the tag of adventure sport without ensuring safety precautions are in place. "Without any protection or height restrictions (pyramid could go up to 30-35 ft), participants suffer maximum injuries at the time of descent," the doctor said, adding that while most people move on after the festival, their families are left to nurse them and run around. Dr Ravat said if he pulls through another few weeks, there could be some chance of recovery.
