I
wished I were dead. I was lying in the causality
department of a hospital in Madras. There was a
lot of activities around me. Doctors, nurses and
attendants were rushing in and out. Machines were
being wheeled in and I was being connected to a
host of monitoring machines. Monitor screens blinking,
graphs going up and down, blips, bleeps, beeps,
conversation of doctors and nurses; "BP is
down; pulse very weak; he is going down; get some
fluid into him; start an IV". But for me these
were none of my major concerns. I was under tremendous
pain. My head was paining like hell. There was a
throbbing feeling and it was increasing by the minute
as if the head was going to explode. My collarbone
was fractured (I didn’t know it then) and was
giving a great amount of pain. I was having great
difficulty in breathing and couldn’t move my
legs. In fact, I was not able to feel anything below
the chest. I wished I were dead.
The day was 2nd December
1993. As usual I went to the office at around 6
AM. I was in the first shift. I was working as a
Systems Analyst with Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) the number one software development organisation
in India. I was in a very happy frame of mind. In
fact, it was one of the happiest periods of my life.
I was going to get married on December 26th. Then
on January 15th, I was going to Switzerland on an
assignment for TCS. Actually I was on cloud nine
in those days. Everything seemed fine and perfect.
It was one of those times in everybody’s life,
when life feels wonderful and fantastic.After a
discussion in the office, I went for a coffee with
my friends. My friends were teasing me regarding
the marriage and honeymoon in Switzerland and we
were generally chatting.
By around 11AM, I left the office
for my flat, which is about 6 kilometres away. I
had an appointment. About 1 kilometre from the flat
there is a crossing. It is a very difficult junction
and that day it was unusually crowded. I was waiting
for the signal and when it came I started my bike.
I started my riding career when I was in college
and with 6 years under my belt on different vehicles,
I had a spotless track record. Had no accidents.
My reflexes were extremely sharp. But that day my
driving skills, my reflexes, and most importantly,
my luck failed me. I was just crossing the road,
when another vehicle ignoring the signal came and
hit me. It must have been coming at a very high
speed, because, I was thrown off the bike. I landed
on the road on my head and right shoulder. In that
process, my spine bent and got crushed. I didn’t
know anything about spinal cord injury (SCI) till
that time. But in the case of accidents, the cardinal
principle is not to move or turn the person. This
is under the assumption that any accident can result
in a SCI. The patient should not be moved till medical
help arrives and even after, all care must be taken
not to move the spine. The first aid courses the
policemen are supposed to take when they join duty
are supposed to include this. In developed countries
they are trained for such an event. While I was
in the hospital, I saw a program in the television
called 999, where an episode was about a police
woman saving a horse rider by not moving him till
medical help arrived, after he fell off from the
horse.
But in my case, every rule regarding
‘How to treat a Spinal Cord Injury patient’
was violated. The policeman tried to lift me into
an automobile. But since I was very heavy (about
72Kg) he couldn’t do that. Then he with the
help of the driver dragged me into the vehicle’s
floor. But since I had very broad shoulders I wouldn’t
fit in there also. So I was made to lie at a very
awkward angle on the floor, till I reached the hospital,
which was only half a kilometre from the accident
site. That was one of the most unforgettable journeys
in my life. I was really seeing stars.
In the hospital the doctors immediately
found out that I have a spinal cord injury. But
since my condition was not stable the doctors decided
to postpone operation for some time. I spent seven
agonising days in the intensive care unit. The fractured
collarbone cut a blood vessel and blood flooded
my lung cavity and my lungs collapsed. Then the
doctors had to drill holes into my chest and drain
the blood. On the 7th day, I was operated
and my spine was stabilised.
After post operative recovery period,
I went to another hospital for rehabilitation. There
one has to undergo an initial assessment and check-up
before starting the rehabilitation process. Till
then, everybody was giving me false hopes that I
will be able to walk and return to normal living.
But at the rehabilitation centre, I still remember
that day, it was 15th January 1994, the occupational
therapist, after her assessment told me that my
goal will be to attain ‘wheelchair independence’.
It didn’t strike me immediately that what she
was saying was that I won’t be walking again
in my life. When the realisation came, it was such
a shock, that I was not able to react at all. I
had to use all my will power to appear calm and
smiling, because my parents and my brother were
with me. If I crumble they will also do so. So I
smiled (if one can call that a smile) and asked
her when we could start the process. We started
the therapy started in two days with upper limb
strengthening, putting me on a tilt table and increasing
the angle to 90 degrees, so that I won’t feel
dizzy when I sit or stand up. ...More
