‘Lift the car or we will die’: A musician’s fight for life and rhythm

Chandrashekhar Gaikwad

It was the evening of Nov 13, 2019. I was driving a two-wheeler in Pune’s Viman Nagar with my wife Sunita riding pillion when life took a turn I never expected. A dumper rammed into a Creta SUV from the rear. That SUV then toppled us over, its weight crushing both of us beneath it.

I remember screaming in pain, gasping for air. A crowd had gathered — not to help, but to film us. Phones were pointed at us while we were fading beneath that vehicle’s metal frame. I had to literally plead: “Lift the car or we will die.” Only then did people come in to help.

By then, both of us were in a dire state. My son, Prajwal, had rushed to the scene and was trying to shift me to a nearby hospital. But our family friend and senior surgeon, Dr Kamlesh Bokil, promptly sent a cardiac ambulance to take me straight to Ruby Hall Clinic. That decision probably saved my life.

I arrived at the hospital around 7 pm. Dr Bokil took one long look at me, and his expression said it all. I had sustained massive trauma to both lungs — what doctors call a bilateral lung contusion — and there were tears in my lungs with blood collecting inside the chest cavity. But that wasn’t all.

The force of the crash had torn open my pelvic bone. My intestines had pushed through and settled into my scrotum, swelling it to grotesque proportions. Dr Bokil later told me they feared internal bowel rupture. Under the care of Dr Kapil Zirpe, director of the neuro trauma ICU, and Dr Bokil, I was put on high-flow oxygen, powerful antibiotics, and medications to ease lung pressure. A tube was inserted to decompress my stomach. For six days, every breath felt like a negotiation with pain.

Only once my lungs stabilised did they take me for surgery. On Nov 19, they made an incision just above my pubic bone. Orthopedic surgeon Dr Raghav Barve joined Dr Bokil in the operating theatre. Owing to my body weight (97kg then) and the complexity of my ‘open-book’ pelvic fracture, it took six people — three on each side — to physically realign my pelvis. With an open-book pelvic fracture, the front of the pelvis tears open at the pubic symphysis (a joint in front of the pelvis that connects both the pubic bones), usually from high-energy trauma, causing massive bleeding and instability. It’s a life-threatening emergency that needs urgent stabilisation.

Meanwhile, my intestines were gently pulled out of the scrotum and examined for cuts or tears. Miraculously, there were none. Once the bowel was returned to its place, a surgical plate was fixed across my pelvis to hold it together. After surgery, I slowly started taking oral feed, was weaned off support, and eventually shifted out of the ICU.

My wife had suffered a severe degloving injury (where skin and tissue are forcibly torn away from underlying muscle, just like a glove is taken off from a hand) to her right knee and a fracture in her right upper arm. Dr Bokil was quick. Right in the casualty ward, he performed a rotation flap surgery — a plastic surgical technique — to cover her exposed knee joint. Dr Barve later fixed the fracture in her arm with a plate and screws.

Despite our injuries, we drew strength from each other. Recovery was long and painful. We spent nearly three months recovering at home. But I wasn’t alone. Dr Bokil visited often, encouraging me to walk, cheering me up, and even playing music with me.

I also owe my recovery to the Narsimha Trust, run by a group of doctor-musicians who donated Rs 1 lakh towards my care and offered free consults and other services. Post-recovery, I performed at the Chinese and Pakistan borders for the Indian Army. Standing before our soldiers, tabla in hand, was more than just a performance, it was a celebration of life.

At 53, music continues to heal me. I now perform across Maharashtra. My wife Sunita is also doing well and joins me in cheering every new milestone. The car crushed my body, but not my spirit. Thanks to doctors, friends, music — and a whole lot of faith — I got my rhythm back.

As told to Umesh Isalkar