The first thought Ajay Duggal had when he saw his nephew, his eyes shut, his face, neck and chest pockmarked with tiny red perforations, was this: "What if the 19-year-old loses his sight completely?"
Sahil Lochab was allegedly hit by a pellet gun in his right eye during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest march in Delhi on July 20.
His uncle asked him what he could see from the eye.
The reply chilled him - there was nothing. No blur, no haze, only darkness.
"Sahil said he was hit directly in his eye. From what we have been told, another operation involving the pupil will determine whether his vision will return," Duggal told PTI.
When he pressed further, Sahil told him there was nothing.
"He was conscious when they brought him here. He was talking to us. But when I saw his face, I kept looking at his eyes and thinking - what if he had lost his sight completely? Who would give him back the life he had before he went to that protest?" Duggal said.
"I asked him, 'beta, can you see properly?' He told us said he cannot see from his right eye at all. It is pitch black. It is not even hazy or blurry vision," he added.
Sahil was among around 60 protesters injured during the demonstrations, according to Delhi Police estimates.
'Only a 1% chance'
The teenager has already undergone one surgery to repair his injured eye and remove pellets. After being treated at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, he was shifted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre on July 21. Another operation is expected in the coming days.
Initially, doctors told the family there was only a "1 per cent chance" that he would regain his vision. On Thursday, they offered a measure of hope.
"Today, the doctors gave us some reassurance and said the chances are improving. But he cannot see at all, and he is in a lot of pain," Duggal said.
According to a source aware of his treatment, doctors have described his visual prognosis as "guarded", meaning his chances of recovering his vision remain uncertain.
The teenager suffered multiple pellet injuries to his face, neck, chest, right shoulder and arm.
A pellet lodged in his right eye caused a corneal perforation — a full-thickness hole in the cornea. Another pellet was found in his right lung and in the pericardial fat, the tissue surrounding the heart, the source said.
For Sahil's family, the injuries have interrupted a life built around studying and preparing for a career in the police force.
A student at Delhi University's School of Open Learning, he had been preparing for the Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level examination. "He always wanted to become a police officer. He was studying and preparing for competitive examinations," Duggal said.
According to his uncle, Sahil had attended the CJP protest that began at Jantar Mantar on June 20 and chose to return for the July 20 march because he believed it was important. "We even tried to stop him, but you know how kids are, they do not listen," Duggal said.
Now, instead of discussing exams and career plans, the family spends its days outside hospital wards, waiting for news of whether his sight can be saved. They said they were informed that the pellets that injured Sahil were made of metal.
Sahil's case has also raised questions about the use of pellet guns during the protest march even as Delhi Police continued to deny that its personnel used them against protesters.
The CRPF, whose Rapid Action Force was also deployed that day, did not respond to questions about the alleged use of pellet guns.
Pellet guns were used in Kashmir to curb violence that erupted in 2010 before being discontinued by the then state government. They were deployed again in July 2016 after protests following the killing of banned Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.
A pellet gun fires cartridges containing up to 600 metal or rubber pellets that disperse over a wide area at speeds of around 1,000 feet per second. Standard operating procedures state that the weapon should be fired from a minimum distance of 500 feet and aimed below the waist.
Sahil is not the only protester recovering from serious injuries.
Sharing the hospital with him is 25-year-old Sheikh Mansoori from Gurugram, who allegedly suffered seven pellet injuries to his face, including his nose, forehead, both eyes and cheeks.
He underwent surgery at Lady Hardinge Medical College and is expected to require another procedure.
At Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, 21-year-old Sakshi, who suffered critical injuries in a stampede-like situation near Jantar Mantar and Tolstoy Marg, has been taken off ventilator support.
The scheduled march was part of the ongoing agitation over alleged exam irregularities and the demand for the resignation of the Union education minister.
(With inputs from PTI)