Surat: This Makar Sankranti brought cheers for Prakash Shellar whose world came crashing down after he lost his arms due to electrocution in 2019. Prakash, who hails from Pune in Maharashtra, lost both his arms and legs in an accident due to electrocution in November 2019.
In a reversal of fate, Prakash, now cured after a successful hand transplant, four years down the line, was seen flying kites at a festival on the eve of Makar Sankranti on Sunday. In a sense, he brought the "Kai Po Che" moment in the famous Bollywood movie to the kite enthusiasts at the effervescent kite festival in Surat.
The title of the movie is based on a Gujarati phrase that means "I have cut" referring to a person’s kite cutting off a competitor’s kite and celebrating the victory by shouting 'Kai Po Che'. The film was based on Chetan bhagat’s novel '3 mistakes of my life' attempts to use Kite as a symbol for victory call.
The popular phrase is associated with Makar Sankranti, also known as Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti in Gujarat. Going back, with all odds stacked, he kept his cool and looked for options to get out of the hopeless situation. His pursuit for cure took him to Global Hospital in Mumbai. There, doctors decided to go for hand transplant. Prakash got a hand and new lease of life. He got the hand of Surat's Dharishi Kakadiya, a brain dead person who had expired in 2021.
“I lost all hope when my hand was totally damaged after I had suffered electrocution in 2019. Doctors amputated my hands and legs. I had approached doctors at Global Hospital in Mumbai. Donate Life, an organisation, came to my help. The officials of the organisation convinced Kakadiya family to give the hand of Dharishi who had suffered brain death. I'm grateful to Kakadiya family, Donate Life and the doctor who undertook 14-hour surgery to give me a new life,” Shellar said.
Prakash admitted that it was life changing experience for him as with his new hand, he can not only fly a kite but can also drive a vehicle. Prakash also voted in two elections. Prakash further said he unwent regular physiotherapy as per the advice of his physician.
Now, after 3 years of transplant, Prakash's new fingerprints matched with his old fingerprints. He is elated to find that his new fingerprints matched with old fingerprints which he used while enrolling for Aadhaar card.
