Sometimes, the best way forward is to first move sideways. That is what Dinesh Majhi, a migrant from Bihar, did a few days ago.
Video: 13/7 victim Dinesh Majhi walks
A photograph of a bloodied Dinesh, who was caught in the July 13, 2011, Opera House blast, was published on DNA’s front page the day after the terror attack. Many readers thought we had published a photo of a dead man. But DNA tracked him down and found that he had lost his right leg below the knee in the blast. Subsequently, prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited him in hospital.
Two days ago, Dinesh received a new prosthetic at the Otto Bock HealthCare unit in Chembur. Team DNA watched as the blast victim was helped into his new limb that will last him for at least five years. As the trainer made the final adjustments, Dinesh had a nervous look on his face. When he finally stood tall, albeit with some support from the railings, he wanted to put his best foot forward: his new prosthetic. But he was asked to wait.
Then came the twist - the trainer asked him to move sideways, not forward. Dinesh tried doing that and realised why he was asked to do so - his body had forgotten how to bend the right knee. After two small rounds sideways, he was asked to move backwards. An anxious Dinesh was waiting for the trainer to ask him to walk ahead, but he didn’t.
“Will he practise at home with this or should we wait till Diwali is over?” asked Santosh Rout, centre manager of Otto Bock’s Mumbai clinic. By then, Dinesh had gained confidence. He finally took a step forward. He moved out of the training area, with the help of a crutch. Then he walked in the corridor. As he became more confident, he wanted to go around the building. The surface was uneven. He had to encounter a slope, but he negotiated it and was on a roll ever since. He walked around merrily even as his elder brother Bindeshwar looked at him in bewilderment. He couldn’t believe his eyes. His younger brother, who was physically challenged till then, was mobile once again.
This is exactly what Ali — a Byculla youth who came down to Otto Bock to encourage a sceptical Dinesh who was being measured for a prosthetic — had predicted in August.
Public memory is short. Dinesh was just another migrant who could have been forgotten once the spotlight on him following the serial blasts was over. Thanks to volunteers from NGO Pratham, he wasn’t forgotten. They kept in touch with him even after he went to Bihar and encouraged him to return to the city where he lost his leg.
It is also because of the Taj Welfare Trust that took care of all expenses for the prosthetic that Dinesh can walk. And he wouldn’t have gathered confidence without the support of Otto Bock HealthCare that offered a generous discount on his prosthetic and went out of their way to convince him it would work. Dinesh’s new year will be brighter and hopefully more prosperous. Thank you, dear all you readers, who followed his story and also kept us going.
To see a video of Dinesh Majhi walking, click on http://dnai.in/aeKm
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