On A Limb, And A Prayer

His amputated leg was used as a pillow while he waited for treatment at a district hospital. The image went viral, and Ghanshyam became the poster boy for our inefficient and indifferent health system. This is his story

- Namita Kohli

In March, the sleepy village of Itayal, about 100km from Jhansi, on the Uttar Pradesh Madhya Pradesh border, woke up to a viral news. Ghanshyam, a mild-mannered youth from the village, lost his left leg in a bus accident on March 10. An image of his amputated leg placed under his head as a 'pillow' in the emergency ward of the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College, Jhansi, soon started trending on social media. The gory image prompted outrage over the quality of health care and the apathy of the staff at district hospitals.

Since then, Itayal has had a bevy of visitors—local politicians, journalists, district officials and many of Ghanshyam's extended family members, who have been trooping in from neighbouring villages to check on him. Still recovering from the shock, Ghanshyam and his wife, Hemwati, both in their early 20s, are unable to articulate their agony to the world, and letting older relatives and village elders speak on their behalf.

“The boy's life is spoiled. What is he going to do now?” asks Bhanumati, his paternal aunt. Her tone sharp and scathing, she points to a frail Ghanshyam, who lies on a cot in a small room. The couple says the room is all they have for them and their two children—a boy of four, who was to start school before Ghanshyam injured himself, and a girl who is barely a year old.

At about 5:30pm, as family members gather around Ghanshyam's cot, the room turns pitch dark, and mobile phones are switched on. Hemwati says this is “a daily affair”, and villagers are used to living with an erratic power supply for several hours on end.