Palghar farmer with injured leg almost loses life

The farmer was using a power tiller when the accident took place. Representation Pic

A 33-year-old farmer, Sadanand Marale got his leg badly injured after it got pulled into a power tiller he was operating to loosen the soil in his village in Palghar district on November 20. Marale was in severe pain and almost fainted due to heavy blood loss because no ambulance driver was ready to take him to the hospital as the teeth of the machine had pierced his calf muscle and severely injured his toes.

After three hours of a chaotic struggle, one of the villagers contacted ambulance driver Akil Sayyed, who rushed him to hospital. "When I arrived, I saw people trying to free Marale's leg from the teeth of the power tiller. They had already wasted three crucial hours trying to free him. I suggested not to remove the cultivator's teeth, as it would cause massive loss of blood and it could be fatal," Sayyed recalled while talking to mid-day.

Sayyed is also a social worker who has been helping accident victims on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. He also helps cops in disposing of unidentified bodies in Palghar district. "I took out the wrench from my ambulance and along with a few other tools which Marale's neighbours had brought to the site detached the cultivator from the power tiller. With the help of farmer's relatives and neighbours, we lifted him into the ambulance and rushed him to a nearby hospital in Manor where the doctors freed his injured leg with utmost care," he said.

After Marale was freed, the doctors referred him to a larger hospital. He was then taken to a private hospital in Mira Road but due to the exorbitant medical expenditure, his family took him to another private hospital in Kashimira.

"We all thank the ambulance driver Sayyed who helped us in this crisis. Now, my cousin has been admitted to a private hospital in Kashimira and he is on a ventilator. The doctors are saying that his condition continues to be critical due to heavy blood loss. His blood pressure had also dipped to alarmingly low levels before he was taken to the hospital," said Sai Marale, a cousin of the injured farmer. Marale had been loosening the soil and removing the crop roots using the machine. The accident took place when a large stone came under the teeth of the power tiller, causing it to jerk and getting his leg pulled in, Sai recalled.

Marale is a tribal from Karal village located on Manor-Wada road, off the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, in Palghar taluka of the district. "His brother was also working in the same field and he informed us. I was at my office when I received the call. So, I rushed to the spot. My cousin was writhing with severe pain and his entire body was soaked in blood," he said. The Marale family is planning to write to the chief minister to help release funds for the welfare of the family and meet medical costs. "Sadanand is a poor farmer and we can't afford the expensive medical costs. Also, it is really very difficult to run his house as the breadwinner is battling for his life in hospital. So, we will write to the CM office to seek monetary help," Sai added.

3 Hours
Time lapsed before farmer got ambulance