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Playing holi has cost this 7-year-old her eye
A 7-year-old girl from Mumbai has lost her eyesight after playing holi. Doctors attribute it to limestone in colours. More than 60 people sought tertiary care on holi day in Mumbai.
Holi is the festival of colours but for this 7-year-old girl from Aarey Colony this may be the last time she saw anything black and white or colour. According to medical experts at the KEM hospital, she lost her vision in her left eye after playing Holi with her friends.
According to her family, the girl had gone out with her friends to play holi on Wednesday afternoon but returned home within 10 minutes as a friend threw colours on her which went into her eyes. "She came running home. Within 10 minutes, a white patch formed in her eye. They initially took her to a local doctor who asked them to take her to a tertiary care centre," said Dr Arjun Ahuja, head of the ophthalmology department, KEM.
She was brought to the hospital around 2.30 pm. "We tried our best but there is a permanent damage to her left eye. We could not salvage it," said Ahuja.
According to Dr. Ahuja, it appears that chuna (limestone) was mixed in the colour. "One should supervise children while they are playing Holi. Colours are not safe for eyes. It is sad that the child had to go through the trauma of losing eyesight at such a small age," said Ahuja. The girl, who is admitted in the ophthalmology ward, will be discharged in 2-3 days.
Apart from this tragic case the city saw other equally painful incidents. JJ hospital's ophthalmology received a 10-month-old male child with eye injury. "According to his parents, his elder brother discharged a water pistol very close to the eye, which led to the injury. We operated him in the morning. He is doing fine and under observation. We will not be able to say anything about the eyesight now as the boy is very small," said Dr TP Lahane, dean of Sir JJ Group of hospitals. He said that another 20-day-old girl was brought to hospital with colours in her eyes. "We washed her eyes and sent her home," he said. A total of 60 Holi revellers were treated at the four tertiary care hospitals on Thursday.
Festivals once instituted in collective memory for the purpose of bringing in unity and harmony among people are assuming scaring proportions today. Holi, meant to be originally celebrated with dry colours today sees people using limestone, chemicals, eggs and what not. Something is truly wrong with the society if after every festival the media runs stories of children losing eyesights, limbs, houses, parents etc. An urgent need to bring in more sensibilities to our festivals stands before us.
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