“Annayya, nenu chanipothunna” (Brother, I am dying) - this was the SMS P. Durga Prasad had sent to his brother on the black Thursday.
Thankfully, destiny has other plans for this MBA student, who is recovering in the Acute Medical Care section at Omni Hospital in Kothapet. After a surgery on Friday that lasted for four hours, Durga Prasad and two other critically injured were shifted out of the ICU on Monday.
His left leg has been implanted with two rods, and his broken finger joined to the stump by another. His thorax was punctured, and his left hand and back are full of splinter injuries. On the fateful day, Mr. Prasad left his Moosarambagh residence for the ‘haarati’ performed at the Saibaba Temple at Dilsukhnagar. After paying obeisance, he came out and was walking towards the bus stop when the first blast occurred. “I thought a transformer had exploded. Within seconds, the second bomb went off from behind, and I fell down,” he recalled.
He realised that he was hit only when he tried to move away from the gory scene. “Two persons died before my eyes. One lost both hands, and another’s innards came out. I crawled up to the main road dragging my leg,” he shudders, reliving the moments.
He was saved by some auto drivers who shifted the victims to hospitals. “They took me for dead and laid me near the seats. I could feel others’ feet on my body but could not respond. I cried in pain only at the hospital.” Hailing from Chinthur village of Bhadrachalam, Mr. Prasad is the first generation literate in his family of farm labourers.
V. Rajender Reddy was critically injured, with a fracture in the right leg and injuries on the left. He was also hurt in the stomach and forehead. Staying in B.N. Reddy Nagar along with his brother, this engineering student got down at Dilsukhnagar and entered the ill-fated Anand Tiffins to have a snack when the twin blasts happened. “Luckily, a friend of mine shifted me to hospital,” Reddy recalled. Like many other victims, he too is suffering from loss of hearing in the left ear.
Omni Hospitals Director M. Gautham Reddy said that four of the 10 victims were discharged on Monday. Three others will be discharged in the coming days, while the three critically injured will have to stay in the hospital for some more days.
A total of 31 blast victims sought treatment at the hospital. Nine were treated as outpatients, while one was referred outside.
