Brave Hearts

Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: Eye Care Foundation

Page 76

Let Everest Beckons
The entire weight of the heavy vehicle fell on his right leg, almost crushing the bones. On regaining consciousness after a while, he saw a lump of flesh and white bone sticking out of his right knee. He had suffered two fractures below the knee and a multiple fractures of the ankle. Initially the doctors thought of amputating the leg, but on more careful and lengthy considerations postponed the idea for a while and instead decided to operate the leg first and to examine its effects. The operation went on for five long hours. Unfortunately the effort of the doctors did not succeed. Brumel's foot had to be amputated. This meant that Brumel had to live the rest of his life at the mercy of the wheel chair or crutches. To think that
Wounded Valery Brumel Brumel could return to the playground that was like building castles in the air.
For three long years his right foot was in and out of plaster casts. During this period, he had to undergo six operations one after the other, of course with intermittent intervals in between. For most of that time he walked on crutches or used a wheel chair. In between, a prominent medical body examined his case at length and finally concluded that Brumel would not be able to return to the high jump arena during his life time. It was, as if, the end of the world for him. Even his fellow athletes and coaches thought so. A normal person would have been lucky just to walk
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