“23rd September 2015, midnight, I was on my way back home from office. Sitting in a taxi I was listening to music and checking mails. I had no clue that my cab driver was falling asleep on the wheels. As we reached Navghar, he hit a dumper. Before I could realise what had happened… from the back seat I flew to the front, breaking through the wind shield.
What followed was a nightmare.
I remember… people had gathered around the taxi. But no one was coming forward to help me. I saw some of them taking pictures on the phone. I also heard someone saying ‘Did the driver rape you?’ Even in that state I felt disgusted. At last some guy came forward and said… ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get you out’.
They found a police van passing by and I was put in the van. I couldn’t feel my left leg at all. When I was kept in the van it just fell on one side. I was in excruciating pain. I screamed and asked them to hold my leg. In the meanwhile, someone from the van called my mom.
At Mulund Civil Hospital the staff was in no mood to help me. My right eye was bleeding too. I couldn’t see with that. But I could hear them laughing, cracking jokes around me. Fortunately, my father and his friends arrived and I was shifted to Fortis. While all this was happening, I was constantly thinking … now what? My job requires me to travel. I love photography. Will I be able to see? will I get my vision back? Will I be able to walk again? At that moment, I realised I didn’t care how I looked, I just wanted life… I just wanted to stay alive.
My leg was hurting badly, but the docs at Fortis told us there’s no fracture. Strangely… after the eye surgery, they told us I have a fracture on my leg. My parents felt that they were just interested in making money out of us. So I was shifted to Saboo Siddique Hospital because my father knew the doctors there. They operated my leg and a rod was put inside. Then I was shifted to Hinduja… this was my 4th Hospital… because Dr Pritam Samant was in Hinduja and he is one of the best eye specialist around. All this while I was in great pain. To add to my misery, I was unsure about my future. That’s when I met Dr Savari Desai… when she saw me she gave me a comforting smile. That very moment, I liked her.
My face had been hit very badly. It was in a mess. No one was allowing me to see the mirror. Everyone was scared that I may get into depression but I insisted to my mom that I need a mirror. I used to look myself in the mirror and slowly it helped me accept my reality. In acceptance, I found new strength and I started recovering.
On the day of the departure, Dr Savari gave me a beautiful letter stating that when she looks at me she sees a silent, resilient fighting spirit. And because of that, even in the darkness I will always find light. Today, that letter travels with me everywhere. There were so many people around me… my parents, my boyfriend and my friends who wanted to see me living, laughing, partying and having fun and that gave me the fuel to fight. I recovered purely because of these people which also includes my boss. They behaved as if nothing’s happened. Just after 25 days post the discharge from Hinduja, I was back to traveling for work, of course with a walking stick.
Dr Savari had told me to make a list of things I used to do, I could do after the accident and I would want to do. She asked me to put them down on a piece of paper. And when I actually sat and wrote them down I realised there wasn’t anything I would leave out even with just one eye. That changed my perspective.
Glass pieces still come out of my body, I have a rod in my one leg and even after 3 surgeries not 100% vision in one eye… but my life? It’s 100%.”
