BABA'S SECOND CAR ACCIDENT

 
On Sunday, the 2nd of December, Baba went to Poona for a day accompanied by Eruch, Pendu, Vishnu and Dr. Nilkanth (better known as Nilu). At around 4:45 of the same evening, while returning to Satara, the accident occurred — about 12 miles outside Satara. The car was running normally and at moderate speed, when it seemed suddenly and inexplicably to go completely out of control and dashed against a stone culvert, landing eventually in the ditch on the other side of it. Baba and the men were heavily injured, the most serious being Nilu.

The road was deserted of traffic and pedestrians, until three minutes later a man going to Poona sighted the wreckage and lifted Baba (and Vishnu who was the least one hurt of the occupants) into his car, retracing his journey to leave them at Grafton. A truck not long after picked up the remaining ones and brought them to Rosewood, the mandali's place. They were badly injured and immediately hospitalized, except Nilu who died without regaining consciousness. The condition of the others is not serious.

In the auto accident of 1952 in the U.S.A., Baba sustained injuries to His face and leg and arm. This time too, Baba received similar facial injuries, though not as severe as that previous time. As all concerned will be anxious to know the details of Baba's injuries, I cannot do better then give the following extracts from a hurried report by Dr. Donkin, giving us a general idea of their extent and location:

1) Minor abrasions and subcutaneous contusions of forehead, nose and cheeks, all healing well.

2) A tear of the upper and lower surface of the tongue, sutured a few hours after the accident. Cuts under the chin, sutured at the same time. Wounds are clean, normal after-injury swelling already subsiding, and the pain diminishing daily, thus allowing the intake of fluids and liquid food with less discomfort. The function of the mouth and tongue are affected only temporarily and expected very soon to be perfectly normal.

3) Surgical attention is now concentrated on the treatment of the hip injury. The top end of the thigh bone (the femoral head) fits into the cup-shaped depression in the pelvis, known as the acetabulum. The upper rim of the acetabulum has been fractured, the broken chip of bone being slightly displaced. Although this is very painful, there is most fortunately no fracture of the parts of the upper end of the thigh bone (e.g. the femoral neck) so often sustained in motor crashes.

A plaster cast or some type of immobilization is essential and the complete healing of the fracture will take the usual length of time. Every effort will continue to be made to give freedom from pain and to restore the hip to ultimate normality.

Baba is at Grafton, under the loving care of the two ashram doctors; of Mehera and the other women and men mandali.