Narayanamoorthy and Lakshmi have been keeping vigil at the Government General Hospital, day and night, for the past three days ever since their son, Naveen Kumar, was carted in with severe injuries on his legs on Friday.
Naveen and four others were injured when their school’s compound wall collapsed on them after a mobile crane went out of control and came crashing on the wall. His left leg had to be amputated. Amudhavalli, another injured student, would undergo a surgery to remove her spleen. The incident had already claimed the life of Athilakshmi (67).
The driver of the crane, Ramesh, claimed that he felt dizzy and hence, lost control of the crane. Police registered a case of rash and negligent driving, causing simple injury, grievous injury and fatal injury under Secs 337, 338 and 304A of the IPC.
Naveen is now in the post anaesthetic care unit, fighting a fever that refuses to break. Doctors said he was still critical, but he was able to talk, even reassuring his teachers that he would be back to school as soon as possible.
For the parents of the 12-year-old, the ordeal is far from over. Doctors have given him time till Tuesday to see if his right leg would be completely okay. “His left leg was severely crushed and so, we had to amputate it. But one of the major blood vessels in his right leg has been damaged and even though we have fixed it, he his yet to regain feeling in his foot,” said Anand Prathap, resident medical officer of GH.
The parents have not told him about the amputation yet but the main concern was to keep him fever-free. “He keeps asking where his legs are. I don’t know what to tell him. How can I make him understand that he doesn’t have a leg?” said Lakshmi, wiping a tear from her eyes.
The active 12-year-old usually had to be dragged into the house from the playfield, even after hours. “He would always play at the end of the day. Cricket, football, anything. And he would fight with his mother to go out and play,” said Deepa, his sister who is studying in Class 11.
Narayanamoorthy has a job as a watchman while Lakshmi is a homemaker and they barely make ends meet. “He studies well in school, gets good marks. We had so many hopes on him. We are all at sea,” says the visibly disconsolate father.