Anil Kumar (26), an electrician, was repairing a power line on the third floor of a building last July when he suddenly came in contact with a live wire and fell to the ground floor.
Such was the impact of the fall that his spine was shattered and he was paralysed waist down. Unfazed by the setback, he bounced back in less than six months and participated in the 4th National Wheelchair Basketball Championship organised in Hyderabad in November last year. This near miracle, according to his doctors at Delhi’s Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, was made possible because of his determination and good medical care.
Anil’s world came crashing down after the fall. “He was brought here with a broken spine, one vertebra completely pressed onto another, leading to complete loss of power in both legs and loss of control on urine and stool,” said Dr. Gururaj Sangondimath, consultant spine surgeon and unit chief, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre. “After evaluating all parameters, a major surgery was conducted. Anil stayed in rehabilitative care for 20 days and after that he underwent several therapies enabling him to learn life skills,” said Dr. Sangondimath.
It was at the hospital that Anil learnt about the wheelchair basketball championship and participated in it.
“After the injury even getting up was unimaginable. Thanks to the support of my family and the rehabilitative care, today I am self-dependent,” said Anil.
