“If he wouldn’t have stood below me while we formed the human pyramid, today, I would have been lying on bed and not him,” said a teenage Lalbaug resident who fell down on 41-year-old Sunil Sawant in their chawl while they were performing the human pyramid during Dahi Handi celebrations on Thursday. Sawant was rushed to the civic-run KEM Hospital by the pathak members as soon as he was seen lying down on the ground after two govindas fell on him. According to the doctors, he suffered from traumatic quadriplegia, which is paralysis caused by spinal injury that results in the partial or total loss of use of all four limbs. “As per the doctors he suffered partial paralysis and is not able to move his body below his waist. CT scan and other medical reports have been taken by the hospital. He has been participating since few years with other residents. He normally remains on ground level to support people climbing the tiers. While he has a medical insurance as govinda, we are in the process of trying to take help from the insurance company and shift him to a private hospital,” said Rohit Sarvadkar, a member of the govinda pathak. As a tradition, the Lalbaug-based govinda pathak - Sri Sai Devasthan Govinda Mandal, wanted to perform a seven-tier human pyramid in their chawl first, before going around in various areas of the city to perform the pyramid. Their first Dahi Handi (human pyramid) for this year, became the last one too. “We are waiting for the medical reports and only then we can start with further treatment. We might shift him to Hinduja Hospital,” said Jeevan Sawant, Sunil’s relative. In another incident, a 20-year-old Aniket Sutar from Worli, suffered leg fracture and was rushed to the hospital in a cab by pathak members. “He fell down from the top floor while we were performing at Parel area. He is not able to move his leg. We are waiting for his medical report,” said a member of Worli’s Udya Krida Mandal. (Govinda pathak makes a human pyramid to break Dahi Handi during Janamashtami festival in city on Saturday - Aadesh Choudhari/DNA)

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