Nitin, who has received support from Vishwa Jagriti Mission Trust, Pune, will be kept at the hospital “for all future course of treatment.” Officers at the hospital said,”Nitin’s prognosis is not yet up to the mark and so an operation is ruled out, for the time being. Sassoon hospital has taken ample care and as the Military Hospital specialises in spine-related problems, Nitin will be given all possible treatment as well as all efforts will be initiated for his rehabilitation.”

At the hospital, family members are not allowed to stay with the patient. So, Nitin’s father has gone back to his village, Umbraj, in Satara district. “He sells ice-cream during summers and fish during the winters for a living. So he is relieved that Nitin has been sponsored by the Vishwa Jagriti Mission as he cannot afford the expenses,” says a senior officer from the hospital.

Sassoon officials said earlier the Akhil Ganesh Baug Mitra Mandal had toned down their Ganesh festival celebrations and provided a water bed to Nitin. Before he was discharged, they also gave him a wheel-chair. “Nitin will be able to sit on a wheel chair, but will not be able to move. There has been an improvement, but there is still a long way to go,” said a senior doctor.