High-voltage electric wires hanging next to the balcony of his home in Lingarajapuram cost 15-year-old Cavin William his arms and a limb.
Cavin was hospitalised on June 21 with severe burns on his body after coming into contact with wires hanging close to his balcony.
“He had third degree burns on his left arm, left chest, left thigh and right chest. The injuries were non-viable when he was admitted,” said Dr Kumar S S, who treated Cavin at North Bangalore Hospital.
Three surgeries
Cavin’s right arm and left upper limb were amputated as the tissues were burnt.
Dr Kumar said that three continuous plastic surgery procedures were done to dress the wounds.
It is difficult to recover 50% of his bones.
Cavin is sedated under heavy doses of painkillers due to excruciating pain.
“He keeps crying with pain each time he wakes up from sleep. His chest wound is deep and the ribs can be seen, but his thigh wound is showing improvement,” said Vidhya Devi, his mother.
Rs 1.42L collected
Cavin’s treatment costs around Rs 13 lakh. Vidhya, being a single mother, collected around Rs 1.42 lakh with the help of family, friends and a crowdfunding platform, Milaap.
She said she had complained to the authorities about the high-voltage wires hanging close to her house but they turned a deaf ear to her complaint.
She said Cavin was sitting on the balcony steps when the wires developed a short circuit and the sparks left him with serious injuries.
Vidhya said that Cavin had just joined his pre-university course and was full of hope.
“I thank God he is conscious,” she said.
Dr Kumar said he will take at least one or two months to recover from the wounds. Even then, he will have a severe handicap.
Rehabilitation programmes will have to be given to him to do his daily activities.
“His situation is critical and he will have to be under observation for a while,” he said.
Published 06 July 2017, 19:28 IST