{"id":8301,"date":"2016-12-24T10:15:13","date_gmt":"2016-12-24T04:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kashmir.today\/?p=8301"},"modified":"2016-12-24T10:15:13","modified_gmt":"2016-12-24T04:45:13","slug":"now-kashmirs-pellet-victims-slip-despair-hopelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=8301","title":{"rendered":"Now, Kashmir\u2019s pellet victims slip into despair, hopelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Srinagar:<\/strong> In a waiting room outside an Operation Theatre at general specialty SMHS hospital here, Bashir Ahmad sits silent; his back leaning against the wall, waiting eagerly for his turn to be called in. The room is packed with boys, hit by pellets in their eyes\u2014some of them as young as 12. All of them had reached the hospital on Thursday to undergo surgical procedures in their injured eye for \u2018a chance\u2019 to regain their vision.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be my third surgery today. But I can\u2019t see anything beyond a shadow in front of my injured eye,\u201d sighs Ahmad.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Hailing from Krehshore area in central Kashmir\u2019s Budgam district, Ahmad had completed his graduation and got admission in a diploma course in a government institute this year when he was hit by deadly pellets in his left eye on August 28 following clashes between protestors and forces.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter my second surgery I had regained some vision but then I lost it again,\u201d says 23-year old Ahmad.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Confined to home for almost four months now, he says he often loses his calm.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the incident life has been such a tough struggle. I don\u2019t know what will happen. This thought is more killing,\u201d he says, and takes a deep breath.<\/em><\/div>\n

This despair expressed by the Budgam boy is written on the face of every youth who has turned up for yet another surgery in their pellet hit eye (s) due to little or no improvement in their vision.<\/em><\/p>\n

A team of surgeons at Ophthalmology Department, joined by world renowned vitreo-retina surgeon Dr S Natrajan, have performed a number of vitrectomies since Thursday. But with each passing day and after repeated surgical procedures \u201cnot yielding amazing visual outcomes\u201d, these pellet-hit youth are slipping into despair and hopelessness.<\/em><\/p>\n

One such case is Firdous Ahmad from Mazbugh Sopore who lost vision in both eyes after being hit by pellets on July 15. He has undergone two surgeries in his left eye and one surgery in his right. \u201cI regained some vision but it faded away then,\u201d says Firdous, who was writhing in pain after the latest surgery in his left eye.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI can only distinguish the colors of my clothes and that too with great struggle,\u201d says Firdous who used to drive a passenger auto to earn for the family including aged parents and three young siblings. Blinded, Firdous\u2019s movement has now got confined to his home.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAt times he cries and says that he wants to run away,\u201d says Asif Ahmad, cousin of Firdous, who was accompanying him. \u201cTill few months back Firdous would not only take care of his parents but earn for schooling and fulfilling other needs of his two brothers and a sister. The reality that he is now dependent on family for entire life depresses him beyond imagination.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But unlike Firdous, Fayaz Ahmad, a truck driver, seems to have resigned to the fate that he might not be able to see with his injured eye again. \u201cToday was my fourth surgery but there is hardly any improvement,\u201d says Fayaz, lying on a bed in Ward No 7. That he can\u2019t go back to resume his work worries Fayaz.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA week ago I went along with some laborers to try and earn few bucks but I ended up with infection and high pressure in my eye and had to be hospitalized,\u201d recalls Fayaz.<\/em><\/p>\n

Commenting on the condition of the injured persons, Dr Natarajan said: \u201cWe are facing the challenge of post vitrectomy adhesions in which the tissues in the eye during the natural process of healing get heaped up and form a lump over visual area which worsens situation after some progress in the eye.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

He said there was the problem of adhesion faced in at least 20 percent cases. \u201cIt is frustrating\u2026there is a new challenge each time. A doctor might say operation is successful but it doesn\u2019t translate into vision each time,\u201d said Dr Natarajan.<\/em><\/p>\n

A senior doctor, who is part of the surgical team, said badly damaged eyes need multiple surgical procedures before they start responding to treatment. \u201cThese (persons) who we have been examining\/operating for past two days have all badly damaged eyes and need repeated vitrectomies,\u201d said the doctor.<\/em><\/p>\n

He said 11 such cases were operated upon yesterday and 25 others on Friday. \u201cExcept for one injured who has been operated upon since yesterday, all have positively responded and have in fact gained vision which would improve over a period of time,\u201d said the doctor.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Srinagar: In a waiting room outside an Operation Theatre at general specialty SMHS hospital here, Bashir Ahmad sits silent; his back leaning against the wall, waiting eagerly for his turn to be called in. The room is packed with boys, hit by pellets in their eyes\u2014some of them as young as 12. All of them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-union-territory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}