Headlines
Blind coconut tree climber bed-ridden after fall
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 14
This Kerala man
conquered a major disability - blindness - to expertly shine up coconut
trees but life played another cruel joke on him a few months ago as he
fell down from a jackfruit tree and since then has been lying paralysed
with a spinal injury.
Najeem, 43, who lives with his wife Naseema
and two children near Nedumangad on the city's outskirts, was born
blind but did his best to live a normal life, becoming an accomplished
coconut tree climber.
Naseema, who ekes out a living by cleaning
state transport buses said life had turned for the worse for all of them
a few months back.
"Ours was a love marriage and right from his
childhood, Najeem, despite being blind, used to love to climb coconut
trees. He used to go up a tree and just by touching the coconuts, he
would correctly cut all the ripe coconuts," Naseema told IANS.
She
said they were leading a happy life as with his income and her wages of
under Rs.4,000 a month, they were able to educate their two girls - one
in class 9 and the other in class 10.
Four months back, everything came crumbling down when Najeem was on his job.
"After
plucking coconuts in one home, he was called by another person to pluck
a jack fruit. After plucking the jackfruit, as he was coming down the
tree, another jackfruit from above fell on head and he lost his balance
and came crashing down," she said.
"He was hospitalised for 23
days at the Medical College hospital here and underwent a spinal
operation. It's four months since and can't sit or stand or walk on his
own. Why is life so cruel to him?" asked a deeply saddened Naseema.
On Friday an NGO working for the under-privileged gifted Najeem a wheel chair.
"After
his fall, we are at the mercy of people because with just my very small
wages, we can't go forward," lamented Naseema, who has now decided to
approach Chief Minister Oommen Chandy for help.