At 22, he can't even lift a glass with left hand

Felix Wilson suffered a paralytic stroke at 22. Felix, who started working for the Mumbai Port Trust when he was still a minor, spent 11 years loading and unloading hazardous chemicals at Haji Bunder.

Felix Wilson suffered a paralytic stroke at 22.

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Felix, who started working for the Mumbai Port Trust when he was still a minor, spent 11 years loading and unloading hazardous chemicals at Haji Bunder.

He suffered a stroke in 2004 after almost a month of handling an acid he can't remember the name of. "I remember I was continuously at it for a month or so, at times even directly coming in contact with the acid," he said.

The stroke paralysed the right side of Felix's body.

"From lifting tonnes of chemicals, I went to not being able to even lift a glass with my left hand," he said.

"Even the doctor could not fathom what led to the stroke. I used to smoke, but nothing else."

Felix, like most others, didn't get any help from the port trust authorities or the workers' union.

"The local church and some others helped me collect Rs 50,000 for my treatment," he said.

After a few months of treatment, Felix was back on his feet but the scars remain. "I walk with a limp," he said.

"There are times when I have such severe spasms that my hands don't move."

He, however, continues to work at Haji Bunder.

"My father did that all his life and died of paralysis. I have no option but to keep hoping I don't go his way… at least for my pregnant wife and two-year-old son," said Wilson.