Docs suspect that Rajendra Ambekar suffered a cardiac arrest while dancing at Pratap Sarnaik’s Dahi Handi; 210 injured govindas were taken to hospitals
A govinda succeeds in breaking the coveted handi
Casting a long shadow on Dahi Handi festivities, a city mandal lost one of its members in Thane yesterday. Like every year, city hospitals received a steady stream of injured govindas: in comparison to the 246 cases of injury reported in Janmashtami celebrations last year, 237 govindas were reported injured yesterday. Of them, 210 were discharged after receiving treatment for minor injuries.
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A govinda succeeds in breaking the coveted handi. Pics/Sameer Markande and Satyajit Desai
Rajendra Ambekar (45) lost his life while dancing at celebrations held in Pratap Sarnaik’s Dahi Handi event in Thane, yesterday. He is suspected to have suffered a cardiac arrest, and was rushed to Thane Civil Hospital after collapsing around 2 pm. Rajendra was a member of the Lalbaug-based Sai Utkarsha Krida Mandal, and had come to Thane to help his team in different events in the area.
A policeman keeps a close watch on proceedings
Doctors said that Ambekar had already breathed his last when he was brought to the hospital. Harish Pandhare, his friend, said, “This has come as a shock to all of us. He used to look after all mandal members and made sure they had food and water as they took breaks between forming pyramids.” Rajendra, an electrician, lived with his family at Lalbaug’s Sai Sadan Complex.
While mandals spread across the city insisted that they had followed the Court’s orders of not allowing children below 12 to participate in Dahi Handi, Sion Hospital treated an eight-year-old who sustained injuries while climbing a pyramid. The child, Sachin Brijmohan Patwa, was brought in after suffering a head injury. Hospital authorities confirmed that the boy, who lives in Dharavi, was part of the human pyramid. Doctors treated and discharged him.
Dr Avinash Supe, dean at Sion Hospital, said, “About 16 patients were brought to our hospital, of which we admitted four. One of them was in a critical condition and is in the ICU. An eight-year-old who had come for treatment in the afternoon was discharged; he’d suffered minor injuries.”
Dr Shubhangi Parkar, dean at KEM Hospital, said, “There were about 67 patients who came to our hospital; eight have been admitted. Three of them will have to undergo surgery for minor fractures.”
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