JOIN USBaljit still critical; HI pledges help
Even though Saturday’s three-hour operation at AIIMS went off well, Dr Tushar Aggarwal, Assistant Professor in the Department of Opthalmology, said the condition of Baljit’s eye was still serious.
“His eye is still in a critical condition. We have managed to repair it but right now we cannot comment whether he will get full vision back,” Dr Aggarwal said.
“Now we will have to just wait and watch. We will decide his future course of treatment depending on his recovery from the surgery,” he said.
Asked whether the injured eye would require another surgery, Dr Aggarwal said, “No, not now. We will take a call on whether he needs another surgery only after assessing his recovery.”
Baljit was hit on his eye on Friday in Pune while practising with a golf ball that sneaked through the visor of his helmet to damage his eye, ruling uled him out of the Indian team’s European tour starting on July 24.
Hockey India secretary general Mohd Aslam Khan said they were constantly monitoring Baljit’s condition and if needed, they were open to the idea of sending the goalkeeper abroad for further treatment.
“He is doing well now after the surgery but it is the kind of injury which will take time to heal,” Aslam said. “If there is any requirement to send him out of the country for treatment, we are ready for it.”
Ultrasonography tests carried out in Pune had showed the globe to have shrunken and deformed with the intra-ocular contents showing heterogeneous appearance with hemorrhage in the vitreous. The rupture has damaged the retina, cornea and lens of his right eye.