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I wished I were dead
- Alexis Leon


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


 

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