A tragic accident has left Moses Thangaraja disabled at the age of 33. With both legs amputated above the knee, as well as a spine injury, he is compelled to lie helplessly on a bed. Having been an active healthy man, he goes through feelings of frustration and despair at his fate. He is fortunate however, in having supportive friends and relatives.
A three-wheeler driver from Pilimatalawa before the accident, Moses supported his aged mother who lived with him. He operated his taxi from the taxi park near the Galaha junction in Peradeniya. To earn some extra income, he also engaged in cutting and polishing terrazzo whenever he had time. His mother’s house, located on a hill, a long way up from the road, is now inaccessible as he would have to be carried up and down. He now lives at Mahakanda, with an aunt and cousin, who look after his needs. This house too is not easy to reach, as it is up a hill with steep, rough steps hewn into the slope to climb.
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| Moses: The view from his window is bleak. |
Recalling the events of March 27, the fateful day that left him crippled, Moses said he felt a sense of disquiet throughout the day, although he cannot think why. He went to work driving his three-wheeler and returned around 9.45 that night. He parked at the house below his own. Feeling more tired and sleepy than usual, he went down to the rail track at the foot of the hill and sat there to unwind, as he often did after work. “I must have fallen asleep,” he said. “Suddenly I felt a great upheaval and a thundering noise.
It was then late night. I saw a train approaching. Alarmed, I raised myself up and tried to move away, but slipping on the wet track I fell back. The train then whizzed past over my legs, dragging me along a short distance. I shouted and shouted and luckily for me, my neighbours heard my cries and came and found me.” They had put him in his own tri-shaw and driven him to the Peradeniya hospital. It was five days later that he found out that his legs had been amputated.
Moses said he was devastated when he was told that he had lost his legs. He had lost his livelihood and felt he had nothing to live for. Lying on a bed placed against a window, he said, “My only occupation now is looking out of this window.” He had even contemplated suicide, he says. However, his friends, the other three-wheeler drivers who worked in the same area and his relatives, rallied round and supported him. Their support has motivated Moses to face life again. His ambition is to recover and get back to work driving his three-wheeler.
He has a long way more to go however. Jayantha, a fellow three-wheeler driver lives in a house below where Moses now lives. He said Moses spent over two months at the hospital, recovering from the amputations and was discharged about two weeks ago, after his wounds had healed. He had to go back to the hospital every other day to have his wounds dressed. Jayantha took him in his three-wheeler in the morning, carrying him down to the road with the help of neighbours. Moses’s cousin is also a taxi driver, and he drove him back after the treatment. It must surely have been quite a difficult feat to carry Moses up and down the steep slope to the road.
Jayantha said they had taken Moses to the clinic last Wednesday. The doctors had told them that a spine operation was now necessary as two vertebrae were broken. The operation is scheduled for August 31. Although the operation is free of charge, they are required to bring the necessary materials for the operation. Rs. 55,000 is needed for this. The possibility of fitting a prostheses could only be assessed after the spinal operation.
With no means of earning an income, Moses has no way of raising the required money for the operation, unless he has some help. His friends are trying their best to support him but they too do not have that kind of money, being daily wage earners. Unless he is fortunate in receiving some assistance Moses faces a bleak future indeed.
An account has been opened at the People’s Bank, Peradeniya branch for this purpose and Moses is hoping against hope that people will respond and contribute to help him regain some measure of independence.
The bank account no is : 057 200140009766. |
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