Now, U-16 goalie gets torn lip, no medical aid

A day after MiD DAY published an article lsquoHeaven help your footballer kidrsquo July 18 highlighting the apathy of the District Sports Office DSO when it comes to providing medical aid in its ongoing school football tournaments the absence of basic medical facilities continued to haunt aspiring young footballers Paying the price Goalkeeper Akash Chaurasia sustained a gash to his upper lip after colliding with an opposition player in an U16 football match held at Azad Maidan yesterday Yesterday during an U16 football match being played at Azad Maidan 15yearold goalie Akash Chaurasia who was manning the goalpost for his school St Sebastian Goan High School Dabul Charni Road sustained a grievous cut to his lip and collapsed after a player from St Peterrsquos High Schoolrsquos Mazgaon accidentally rammed into him during the match His upper lip was torn off in the collision MiD DAY39s report on Thursday ldquoThough he was able to stand up a while later and continued to stand under the bar he was bleeding profusely Thankfully there were two peons seated at the ground with a first aid kit They put cotton on his wounded lip to stop the bleeding after which we rushed him to G T Hospital in a taxi There was nobody present to treat him at the ground How can the DSO authorities expect a maali to provide first aid to a playerrdquo said St Sebastian football coach George DrsquoSouza Doctors sutured the upper lip to close the gaping wound An onduty doctor who was present at the hospitalrsquos emergency ward said ldquoHe Akash did not have to be admitted as his lip was stitched up in around 15 minutes The swelling will subside in a few daysrdquo Family shocked When the young ladrsquos parents got to know of the incident they rushed to the hospital Speaking to MiD DAY Akashrsquos father Dilip who owns a paan shop in Bhuleshwar said ldquoMy son has been playing football for the last few years and the only reason we let him play while he is in Std X is because we were informed that he would get 25 marks more under the sports quotardquo ldquoHowever after this incident we have decided to stop him from playing football so that he concentrates on his studiesrdquo added the father Hospital staff threaten Taifrsquos family The article published by MiD DAY on 13yearold Taif Ansarirsquos fractured leg did not go down well with the G T hospital authorities The hospital staff allegedly threatened the footballerrsquos family stating that they would not treat him any further because the family had violated the hospitalrsquos rules by clicking pictures within the premises and sending it to the press ldquoWe spoke about Taifrsquos injury not because we wanted any media coverage But it was a genuine concern for our kid and little did we know that it would backfire on us Early last morning the hospital authorities told us that because we leaked the news they wanted us to take our kid and shift him to another hospitalrdquo said a family member who did not wished to be named Taif had cracked the shinbone of his left leg while playing against Diamond Jubilee High School in an U14 tie on Wednesday The other side ldquoThe family was in no way threatened by the hospital staff It is our duty to treat the patient and I will see to it that he receives proper treatment as the surgery is scheduled for Saturdayrdquo said Dr D R Kulkarani medical superintendent G T Hospitalu00a0