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Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, the surgeon who operated on Rishabh Pant after the cricketer suffered multiple injuries in a car accident in December 2022, has revealed that the keeper-batter’s mother was worried about whether her son would be able to walk again.
Pant, who was driving himself, crashed into a divider near Roorkee in Uttarakhand early morning on December 30, 2022. The batter survived the life-threatening accident and is now gearing up to make a comeback to competitive cricket at the upcoming Indian Premier League 2024.
After the horrific accident, though, Pant’s mother was concerned about whether her son would be able to even walk. In part one of a special video series on the player's amazing recovery following his accident, Dr. Pardiwala, Director, Centre for Sports Medicine, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai, told bcci.tv:
“Rishabh’s mother was very concerned whether he’s ever going to be able to walk again. I told her that: 'look, I can at least promise that we’ll make sure that he walks again.'
"He’ll walk without a limp, and we’ll make sure that he’s like anyone who is normal. Because this is such a severe injury, we will of course aim for him to getting back to cricket, aim for him to getting back to competitive cricket. But that’s going to be a long drawn-out process.”
On the duration of the recovery period, the doctor said that it usually takes around 18 months. He, however, added:
“When I told Rishabh 18 months, he said, ‘okay fine. I am going to show you that I can do it in 12 months’.”
Pant has been regularly sharing updates from his rehabilitation process on social media.
“We had to support him through that difficult phase” - Dr. Pardiwala on Pant being unable to perform daily tasks
During the aforementioned interaction, Dr. Pardiwala opened up on the mental well-being of Pant during the recovery period.
While praising the player's attitude, he admitted that the keeper-batter found it difficult when he couldn’t perform basic chores like going to the toilet without needing support.
“There’s always an aspect of mental health. On one particular day, you are perfectly normal. You are a superstar celebrated all around. And then, a week later, you can’t perform the simple functions of going to a toilet on your own.
"You can’t walk - normalcy or hyper normalcy to a state that’s so disabled. I think to accept that sometimes becomes very difficult. Typically, that doesn’t happen on day one or two. That, typically happens after two or three weeks,” Dr. Pardiwala explained.
He added:
“When that frustration sets in.. you are still in bed, you still can’t get out, you still can’t do the things that normal people take for granted. And I think that was a difficult phase for him.
"We had to support him through that difficult phase. We had to keep encouraging him and let him know that look this is a phase that everyone undergoes, and this is a phase we will overcome,” he elaborated.
Pant attended an IPL match of Delhi Capitals last season and got a warm reception from the crowd. He was also part of the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai.
