On a bet,youth jumps 20 ft,damages legs

Suresh is filled with a sense of remorse for an act that might have taken his life,but the afterthought will be of little help for him now. A resident of Pashan,Suresh had performed the stunt last week and landed straight on the ground rather than the sand he aimed at. And in the process,he suffered what doctors said was “irreversible damage” to one of his legs while the other leg has also been badly damaged.

Seconds before his adventure,Suresh had bragged to his friends that he would remain unscathed after it. “I told my friends that nothing would happen to me if I jumped from this height…” He quickly adds that it was all said in jest. “Mee maskari karat hoto (I was joking).”

Suresh says he doesn’t remember much about the fall. “Even as I was joking about my abilities to my friends,I found myself straight on the ground. I don’t know what happened…how I came down…it was all my fault.”

Afraid of a police case,Suresh says the bet was from his side. “They did not say anything. I said it all on my own and then came down in a flash.”

He,however,is not aware of the extent of damage he has brought upon himself. “I am sure I will get back on my feet in a few months. I will live a normal life and won’t dare to do anything like this again.”

However,the doctors say the youngster will have to live his life with a limp in either of his legs of both.  “One of his legs looks beyond repair. The other has also been damaged badly. We will be able to do a plastic surgery only after his injury heals,” says Dr Prashant Tonpe. “As of now,we don’t need to remove his badly damaged leg,but can’t say anything further.”

His family,meanwhile,is shell-shocked. Suresh,who works as a driver,earns Rs 3,500 a month and is the only earning member. “His father died when he was a child. His mother did household work to raise him. One of his sisters is married while the other is yet to be,” his grandmother says.