Sandeep Pal, a promising teenaged gymnast from Allahabad who was hoping for India glory, is staring at a bleak future after a serious spinal injury in training, which has left his family hoping he at least walks soon.
The youngster, currently under treatment at the Capital’s Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), hails from an Uttar Pradesh city with a tradition in gymnastics. Ashish Kumar, the first Indian gymnast to medal at the Commonwealth Games—vault silver and bronze in floor exercises at the 2010 New Delhi Games—is from the famous tourist city.
Pal, a trainee of the gymnastics academy run by Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), is wheelchair-bound since he suffered a horrific neck injury following a fall during training at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex here on February 5, says a senior SAI official.
The 18-year-old, a medallist at national level, was doing repetitions of the floor ‘double back somersault’ routine, without the supervision of a coach. It is a routine rated ‘medium range’ in its difficulty. He successfully executed it thrice but it went awry the fourth time as he landed on his head to suffer the injury. The young gymnast, who remained conscious, was rushed to hospital by SAI officials.
“On the advice of medical experts, surgery was carried out. He was first operated for C4-C5 dislocation-fracture, but after failure to stabilise the vertebrae, a second operation for posterior stabilisation was also carried out,” the SAI official said.
{{/usCountry}}“On the advice of medical experts, surgery was carried out. He was first operated for C4-C5 dislocation-fracture, but after failure to stabilise the vertebrae, a second operation for posterior stabilisation was also carried out,” the SAI official said.
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The doctors when contacted didn’t reveal his present condition or the prognosis. Harvinder Singh Chhabra, director of ISIC, in a joint statement with associate Kuldeep Bansal though said Pal was evaluated by a team of spine surgeons on the day he suffered the injury and diagnosed it as C4-5 fracture-dislocation with quadriplegia. “Post surgery he needs aggressive rehabilitation, physiotherapy and persisting measures during hospital stay for the next 6-8 weeks,” he said.
C4-5 quadriplegia can lead to trouble breathing, coughing, or even in controlling bowel or bladder movements. Speech can sometimes be impaired. It is called quadriplegia when all four limbs are affected.
The recovery though has been slow, leaving Pal’s family concerned. After the two cervical spine procedures, the teenager has been undergoing rehabilitation for over two months. There is movement in the right hand but there no response on his left side, his father Santosh Kumar told HT.
It had been a bright start to the year for the family.
“We were rejoicing in January as he won silver in roman rings at the Khelo India (U-21) Games in Guwahati. Now we are worried about his future, whether he will even get back to normal life, and when,” said Kumar, who is in the army and is posted in Srinagar.
The lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic has added to the family’s distress. “His mother is unwell and can’t come. Even my elder son can’t visit because of the lockdown travel restrictions,” said Kumar.
Pal started gymnastics training in 2014, in the Army’s boys company at Roorkee, Uttar Pradesh. In 2018, he won the roman rings title in the first Khelo India School Games (U-17) in New Delhi. He was then selected to the SAI academy, which he joined that December. The institution is one of the many academies set up across the country by the government in Olympic disciplines to groom athletes for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics. “He had good skills and potential to excel at world level,” a SAI coach familiar with gymnastics said.
The gymnastics centre at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Stadium has four coaches with the group headed by retired SAI coach Gurdial Singh Bawa.
Pal was under the charge of Chanderkant, but the coach said he wasn’t present when his ward was injured and cannot speak about it. “I’m not authorised to give details to journalists,” he said. The head coach didn’t respond to calls or text messages. Amar Jyoti, the IG Stadium administrator, said she would have to first talk to her superiors, and didn’t get back.
SAI director general Sandip Pradhan has sanctioned R20 lakh for Pal’s treatment, including rehabilitation. Kumar though said there has been no communication from SAI in the lockdown phase (since the last week of March). The father is worried whether his son would walk again.
“I don’t know how long the government will support us. Without funds, it will be difficult for me to manage. It’s a long road ahead, with limited resources it can be very tough,” he said.