23-year-old who almost lost leg after Fatka gang member's assault forgives him

A picture taken last Saturday shows Singh and her mother Ishravati on the same 8.01 am ladies special, which she had taken from Kalyan station that fateful February morning

When Dravita Singh, 23, a third year Bachelor of Commerce student of Shri Chhatrapati Late Sau SR Abhang Memorial College Of Arts And Commerce, greets us at her Kalyan home, she appears reclusive. She doesn't wish to relive the trauma of the last three months, but on her father, Hemant Kumar Singh's insistence, she agrees to speak.

"She is brave, but it hasn't been easy for her," he says, as Dravita sits across the drawing room, staring at the floor. The palm of her left hand is masked in a handkerchief, and her right foot, cushioned under a layer of cotton sock and sponge in special footwear comprising a shock-absorbing sole. Singh nearly lost her foot under a moving local after she was attacked by the notorious Fatka gang on February 7.

Though recovery has been slow, the family is grateful. Last week, on Saturday, Singh and her mother Ishravati, boarded the same 8.01 am ladies special from Kalyan station. It's from here that she was thrown on the tracks.

Singh with Dr Ranade, who performed a surgery the night of the accident, amputating the little finger, part of the middle and ring fingers of her left hand and the great toe of her right foot

The miraculous escape
Three miracles occurred back to back on that uneventful morning in February. Singh had boarded the ladies special and was on her way to her Fort office, where she worked part-time as an accountant in the same company as her father, Sterling Freights Pvt. Ltd. On that day, the Fatka gang that operates along the railway tracks, snatching phones of unsuspecting commuters, had put a 17-year-old novice on the job. Around 9.15 am after the train left Sandhurst Road station, Singh remembers walking up, not too close to the footboard, but enough to enjoy the nip in the air, when a thick bamboo stick hit her forehead. What followed was the first miracle. "I fell down from the running train, hitting my head on the tracks. While I had suffered severe blunt trauma to my head, back and hand, I managed to lift myself," she says.

Despite the pain, she walked on the tracks, trying to make sense of what had happened. "Everything was a haze. My head was spinning and I couldn't see clearly," she says.

Had it not been for the blaring sound of an oncoming local from CST, she wouldn't have known that a train was within proximity and on the same track that she was trudging on. While she managed to step out in the nick of time, miraculously saving herself from coming under the wheels, her left hand and right foot were compromised. Her fingers and foot were crushed under two bogeys, before the local came to a grinding halt. Singh was lifted by motorman Munalal Singh and railway guard Rajeev Nishad, and rushed to JJ Hospital. From here, she was shifted to Bhatia Hospital, where the final miracle was to unfold.

Dravita Singh with parents Hemant Kumar and Ishravati at their Kalyan home. Her phone didn't suffer a single scratch in the mishap. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

On a wing and a prayer
"Dravita was admitted to the ICU with a head injury, as well as crush injuries on her right foot and left hand. She also suffered blunt trauma across her body, with multiple friction abrasions," says Dr Shailesh Ranade, consulting plastic surgeon and coordinator of the burns unit at Bhatia Hospital in Tardeo. Ranade says when he first saw the injuries, they were ghastly. The great toe of her right foot was detached, hanging by a small skin tag. "The foot was in bad shape. There was an extensive loss of skin and soft tissue of the sole as well as dorsum, with multiple fractures to the bones," he says.

"I was in a dilemma, whether to amputate the foot or to make an effort to salvage it, as the risk of the life-threatening sepsis loomed largely," he says, adding, "But Dravita is young. I have a daughter her age. I couldn't imagine not giving this a chance and regretting it later. I decided I'd make an attempt to save the foot while keeping her under close observation. If there was any suspicion of sepsis or spreading infection, we told her family that we would amputate the limb without delay."
Ranade performed an emergency surgery on her the same night of the accident. "We had to amputate the little finger and part of the middle and ring fingers of her left hand due to severe crush injuries. The great toe also had to be amputated," he says.

Also read - Mumbai: Woman falls off train after being hit by 'Fatka gang' thief, loses finger, part of limb

The worry of putting together finances also loomed. On Ranade's request, Bhatia Hospital agreed to foot the entire bill for the treatment. Over the next three weeks, Singh underwent six surgeries, including skin grafting on her right foot. A vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy was used, to reduce the bacteria and dead tissues in the wound on her foot. Dravita underwent sessions of vigorous physiotherapy after the skin grafting was successful. Ranade also counselled her for depression. "She faced multiple breakdowns. She would swing between happy and sad, in an instant. To keep her in good spirits, I would sing to her."

Hoping to distract her, Ranade insisted that her parents bring Singh her college textbooks, so she could prepare for the TYBCom exams. A month later, she was discharged. While she was given a walker, she barely used it for a week and was able to take a few steps on her own. Singh makes the journey from Kalyan to Tardeo twice a week for a dressing change. Last month, she managed to appear for the TYBCom exams at a centre in Ulhasnagar. She confesses to us that she isn't her chirpy self yet.

"I don't ever remember being afraid. Now, even the sound of crackers or staying alone at home instils a sense of fear. A recurring dream of an approaching train won't go away," she says.

But, Singh has forgiven the 17-year-old who was arrested the day after the accident and sent to a remand home. "He told the police, 'mera nishana chook gaya'. He wanted to hit my hand, but he hit my head," she says. Incidentally, they found the phone, which the teenager had managed to steal. "It doesn't have a single scratch on it," she says wistfully.

The fears will take a while to conquer, but Singh knows Ranade has given her what she needs to get there. "He gave me the confidence, to get on that train. I think I have conquered my biggest fear."

Also read - Mumbai: 30-year-old fatka theft accused faints in court, dies

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