“He recovered from the strong electric shock, but his pelvis was broken in 4 places due to the fall.”

— INDRADYUMNA SWAMI

“Upon reaching the pole and grabbing it firmly, I was hit by lightning. It took me just a fraction of a second to understand that I was being electrocuted. So, of course, due to my grabbing firmly the lampost, and being under electrocution, I couldn't let go. The muscles were completely contracted.”

— RADHE SYAMA
Radhe Syama Prabhu has done service at Bhaktivedanta Manor, England, as well as many other places in Europe and India.

Radhe Syama Severely Injured
By Indradyumna Swami 

CHAKRA (Poland) - Radhe Syama prabhu, who is helping me here in Poland during our festival tour, had an accident, and I wanted to inform the devotees.

He was trying to climb up into a locked building at night - the school where we are staying. He touched a live wire and received a severe shock - and was then thrown quite some distance down to the ground.

He recovered from the strong electric shock, but his pelvis was broken in 4 places due to the fall. He underwent surgery to repair the bones (and some initial internal bleeding ) and is now recovering in a local hospital. The doctors say the surgery was successful and that there are no further complications from the accident. He will be in the hospital for 2 - 3 weeks and then will be moved to another place for longer-term recovery, which should take a few months.

His wife Racitambara will be coming from India in a few days to assist him at this point.

You may contact me for further inquiries by e-mail - or phone. My number is: (48) 602.108.108.

Your servant, Indradyumna Swami

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I Was Slowly Cooking Inside
By Radhe Syama dasa

On Monday night, two weeks ago, I drove back from Berlin, from picking up Nrsimha Kavaca Prabhu, who was coming on the Tour. Upon arriving at the base, a school, around half-past midnight, we found all the doors locked. All the devotees had already left to the next base and only Indradyumna Maharaja and two of his servants had stayed to wait for us.

We were supposed to leave the next morning at 4 o'clock to join the other devotees at the new base. The two rooms where Maharaja and the two devotees were sleeping were situated on the second floor. After several unsuccessful attempts at waking them up by calling and throwing stones at the windows, we decided to climb over a flat roof which was giving access to Maharaja's windows.

That roof was situated above a gymnasium, two storeys high. On the wall of that gymnasium was a fixed street lamp. So I've decided to use that lamp to pull myself up. Nrsimha Kavaca cupped his hands and first gave me a boost to reach a high window, which had bars that I could grab and pull myself up.

From there I could stretch myself and reach a gutter of the roof which was sticking out. That lampost was fixed against the wall a bit away from the window. I had bare feet, since climbing like this with Berkenstock is not an easy task.

So I secured my position with my feet on the metal bars of the window, with one hand holding the gutter and I stretched my other hand to reach the lampost which was curving out at that height.

Upon reaching the pole and grabbing it firmly, I was hit by lightning. It took me just a fraction of a second to understand that I was being electrocuted. So, of course, due to my grabbing firmly the lampost, and being under electrocution, I couldn't let go. The muscles were completely contracted.

Nrsimha Kavaca told me it lasted about 30 seconds, with my legs kicking all over and my body convulsing. All the time I was conscious, trying to fight back. I was having the impression of being slowly cooked inside, especially all the intestines, organs, testicles and legs.

After some time, for no reason known to me, I was severely thrown back to the ground, landing first on my feet. My legs were so stiff that they did the splits, and then I fell heavily on my buttock and my back.

Due to the tense contractions of my muscles, I hit the hard concrete ground as if I was a stiff iron bar. The shock was very brutal.

I laid down there for a good 15 minutes to a half an hour with heavy convulsions to the whole body. After some time, the convulsions receded and Nrsimha Kavaca sought help from the devotees who finally awoke. They came down and between the three of them, they brought me up to the room, where I slowly relaxed and stopped convulsing after two hours.

Toward the early morning, they called for an ambulance. At the hospital, they diagnosed two fractures of the pelvis and three of the thin bone, which connects the femur (the main thigh bone) to the pelvis.

Due to splitting of the legs, the pelvis, which usually has a gap of two millimeter open, was found to have a gap of 50 mm. In other words, the pelvis had split wide open.

Since the bones were not broken cleanly all the way through, and were still holding together at some point, there are two possibilities for healing. One is to let the whole thing come back on its own, which takes much longer. The other is to open and operate, putting it back together with screws, wire, etc. One doctor was for one solution and the other doctor was for the other way. After deliberation, they decided to leave it like it was for now.

Toward the evening, I've started to develop an excruciating pain in the lower abdomen. Despite the catheter, I couldn't pass water any longer. They made again more thorough x-rays and scan to discover that I had also heavy internal bleeding and bladder injury. So they prepared me for an emergency operation. I was brought into the operating theatre at 8 o'clock at night and two surgeons operated for 5 hours.

Since they were opening for those internal injuries anyway, they decided to also do the work on the fractures, bolts, wires, nails, glue, welding, etc. I've been told they had removed everything out of the abdomen, ie. intestines, organs, etc. Everything was out. Needless to say, I've lost a great amount of blood. They put back at least 5 liters over the next two days. So that's basically what has happened.

Now how am I? Needless to say, for the last two weeks, I've visited Hell, physically but also due to the heavy drugs, it has disturbed a lot my mental equilibrium, more particularly, upon awakening and for the next two days. I'm slowly and painfully climbing up the slope, re-conquering the control over this body. I had two main points of attention. One was the heavily bruised and crushed muscles of my buttock and lower back, more particularly on the left side. And on the other side, a digestive and even more so evacuating system going completely beserk. No possibility of evacuating gas, causing strong colic, what to speak of evacuating anything else, which causes great discomfort and pain.

After two weeks, the automatic evacuating system is still not functioning properly on its own. My lower back and buttock had turned into a jet-black ebony color and now it's turning into a very colorful display of deep purple blue, red, yellow and even green, reminding us of those beautiful batiks of the seventies, so much in fashion at that time.

The muscles are getting out of the numbness and the pains are getting more sharp and accurate, which is a good sign of recovery. According to the doctors, I've been through the two first weeks and first stage of recovery. Now I need, for the next weeks, to slowly learn to sit again, which will allow me to slowly become mobile on a wheelchair. Then, if everything goes all right, the third and last stage is starting to learn again to walk, on crutches, but this will need some time and rehabilitation. A slow rise from bed to wheelchair to again standing up.

So that's it, in short.

I'm leaving the hospital probably in two days, probably to live at Gaurangi's mother's house, both my Godsisters, whom you might have met in England. After that, nothing is defined. It probably depends mostly on how things evolve. Everything is open for me.

This year the Tour is extremely successful. Due to poor summer weather, the beaches are deserted and therefore the holiday-makers are craving for distractions to entertain them. So in almost all these towns, the Laxmi-Nrsimhadev Travelling Festival Tour is the only thing happening for the whole summer. It is highly entertaining, exotic and different from their beer and sausage festivals. Even the mayors of these towns appreciate very much our coming again, since it brings something new and festive in their boring dead place.

This year, Maharaja has acquired a new sound and lighting system, which makes the festival more powerful and more professional. It is actually really impressive. Bhaktividya Purna Maharaja has graced us with his presence for about one and half months. I've just been told that Krsna Ksetra Prabhu as well as Jayapataka Maharaja, who are in Poland at the moment, will visit the Tour for a few days, to the great happiness of the devotees. Maharaja has lost his driver in that accident and since he doesn't want anyone else to drive his van, on top of all his responsibilities, he has now to drive his van himself.

Indradyumna Maharaja informed me quite a few days ago that the rumor about my accident had spread to the Manor. He mentioned the prayers and well-wishes of all of you for my prompt recovery. I would like to thank you all for your concern and well-wishes. The prayers and moral support of the devotees is certainly the best medicine. I hope to see you all again in the not too distant future. I pray to Srila Prabhupada, Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda, Sri Sri Sita Rama Laxman Hanuman, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, that I will have Their darshan again and beg at Their lotus feet for Them to accept my menial service again.

© CHAKRA 8-August-2000