Paralysed dahi handi player moved to Bhaktivedanta Hospital

A 25-year-old dahi handi participant, Suraj Kadam, who sustained a cervical spine injury leading to quadriplegia, has been moved to Bhaktivedanta Hospital for rehabilitation after a month-long hospitalization at KEM Hospital. Suraj's family decided to shift him due to lack of nursing support at KEM Hospital. Suraj's siblings have given up their studies and work to be with him. The doctors estimate that it will take four to five months of physiotherapy for Suraj to regain some movement. This year, there have been 195 serious injuries among dahi handi revellers.

MUMBAI: Twenty-five-year-old Suraj Kadam, the dahi handi participant who sustained a crush injury in the cervical spine leading to quadriplegia—paralysis below the chest level—was moved to Bhaktivedanta Hospital at Mira Road last week after a month-long hospitalisation at KEM Hospital, Parel. Suraj, who lives in Virar, will continue with his rehabilitation programme at Bhaktivedanta.

Paralysed dahi handi player moved to Bhaktivedanta Hospital

On September 26, HT had reported how his family was worried about managing him at home after he was discharged from the hospital. “Once Suraj was shifted from the KEM Hospital’s ICU to the ward, it was we who had to take care of him,” said Sachin Jadhav, Kadam’s maternal uncle. “There was no Class IV staff or nursing support, which led to him getting bed sores. We therefore decided to shift him to Bhaktivedanta Hospital, which is also closer to our house.”

Suraj, the eldest of four siblings, lost his parents in the Covid-19 pandemic. After his fall during dahi handi and hospitalisation, his siblings Sampada (23) and Sujal (18) gave up their studies and work to be with him in the hospital. “I could not go to work and Sujal was unable to go to college and appear for his exams though he is in Class XII and this is a crucial year for him,” said Sampada. “While I was shuttling between home and hospital, leaving home every day at 5.30 am with tiffin and returning home at 1.30 am, Sujal nursed him (changing his diapers, urine bag and sponging him) at the hospital alone. After we were assured by the state government and the Mumbai-based Dahi Handi Samanvay Samiti that they would help us with hospital expenditure, we decided to shift him to Bhaktivedanta Hospital.”

Jadhav said the doctors had told them that it would take four to five months of rigorous physiotherapy for Suraj to regain some movement. “They are hopeful and we are keeping our fingers crossed,” he said. “It has been a week since we moved to this hospital. Suraj undergoes physiotherapy sessions twice a day. The intensity will increase in the coming days. We can already see some movement in his legs.”

Suraj is one of the 195 dahi handi revellers who sustained serious injuries this year. Last year’s dahi handi saw two quadriplegic cases and one severe head injury, with all three succumbing to their injuries later. In 2022, there were 222 injuries.