Mumbai: Teen to 'sit' for exams after rare spinal condition surgery

While most kids would do anything to avoid studying 16yearold Mukesh name changed cant wait to sit at his desk and pick up a textbook Hes dreamed of it for nearly eight years even as a congenital disorder called kyphosis left his back severely hunched making even the simple act of sitting excruciatingly painfulToday the teenagers face bears a look of relief and hope as he is finally able to sit up straight after surviving a 13hourlong surgery at Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital in FortDifficult childhoodA fortnight after the procedure he is already walking without physiotherapy or crutches held up solely by willpower This superpower is what has kept him going since he was seven when he was discovered lost at Kalyan railway stationUnlike many paediatric patients who have the support of their parents while battling medical conditions Mukesh has spent the last eight years alone being shuffled across three different staterun sheltersHe was rescued by RPF officers and taken to a childrens home in Bhiwandi He had told them that his family lived under the Kalamboli bridge but despite several attempts social workers were unable to find his parentsAs far as he can recall the pain started after he was injured in a fall in 2010 at the Bhiwandi shelter he was first taken to The pain continued to get worse For the past couple of years I havent been able to sleep and I would often walk around at night The pain would force me to leave exams midway he saidRare congenital conditionOn the other hand Dr Dhiraj Sonawane head of the Orthopaedic and Spine department at GT hospital said One in 10000 people suffer from kyphosis and it is usually either congenital which becomes prominent during puberty when the body grows or is caused by tuberculosis In this case it appears to be congenitalHe added that it was a rare case considering the severity of the condition His spine was curved at a 90degree angle said Dr Sonawane The doctor said that had Mukesh not undergone the surgery he was at risk of paralysis in case of a fall After consulting with spine surgeons from Singapore and the US Sonawane conducted the surgery on October 26 This kind of a surgery is usually done in two or three phases But we decided to do it in one go to minimise the risk he said adding that he used cobalt chromium rods to hold the spine the strongest materialThe hospital also borrowed a neuromonitoring system from Surat to monitor the proximity of the surgical instruments to the spinal cord Mukesh will be kept under observation for a week before he is dischargedAmit Gunjal Mukeshs counsellor and a social worker with the Women and Child Development Department had visited two other hospitals before he found a doctor willing to perform the procedure Gunjal said the surgery could be lifechanging for the boy We have never had cases where a child has received such a major surgery He is a bright boy and he has an interest in studies We are thrilled to see him up and about so soon If he performs well in his Std X exams he can be placed in an aftercare home where he can continue his education till he turns 21 he saidExcited about sitting for examsMukesh is a Std X student at Sri RK Abhang Vidyalaya in Ulhasnagar He is looking forward to his board exams in March 2019 he said adding I was not able to sit for a long time because of the pain But now I want to make sure that I study well and complete all my papers Being able to sit for longer hours means that he can also better enjoy playing chess a skill that has won him a couple of tournamentsHe is also looking forward to reuniting with his friends at the childrens home in UlhasnagarCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates