Pelted stone leaves 55-yr-old nearly blind

A man sitting at the window seat in an express train was at least temporarily blinded on Monday night when a stone that was pelted injured him, almost causing him to lose an eye.

Hit hard: Pradeep Buava was sitting near a window u00a0when the stone came out of nowhere and hit him in the eye.u00a0Pic/Nimesh Dave

Pradeep Buava (55), a resident of Kandivli was travelling with his cousin and son-in-law to Kutch to meet his ailing mother when the mishap occurred. "We boarded the Kutch express train no 19131 and were heading towards the destination when suddenly two hours into the journey a rain of stones hit bogie numbers S1, S2 and S3. I was sitting near the window, enjoying the summer breeze when a stone came at me from nowhere and after that all I can remember is seeing blood everywhere," said Buava. The stone had hit Buava in his right eye almost costing him his vision.

The victim's cousin said that after the mishap occurred they were left in a state of shock. "We started asking for help, as all we could see was blood. We asked the ticket checker to help us and he said that he would provide us with an ambulance service that could take us to the nearest hospital. But, nothing was in place and in the meantime, my cousin kept bleeding and writhing in pain."

Two hours after the incident, the victim and his kin were taken to a nearby clinic at Valsad where Buava was provided with primary medical care and then returned to the city for further treatment.

The only earning member of a family of five, Pradeep Buava was then rushed to Siddhivinayak Nursing home at Borivli where Dr Sanjeev Maroo operated on his eye. "There are fractures on the orbit bones and the injury is very serious. Currently, we have operated on him and are waiting for his swelling to reduce. Only after that will we get a clear picture of the situation. However, there are chances of him not being able to see from his right eye."

Despite repeated attempts to contact officials at Western Railway, neither PRO Sharat Chandrayan nor other officers were available for comment. u00a0