After a freak accident, Mahesh was forced to carry a urine bag with him for 18 years.  He could not work for the fear that the bag may leak. He was too embarrassed to attend his family functions or visit his relatives. But a visit to Bhagawan's hospital and  his life became normal again. 

It was an ordinary day for Mahesh. He had gone out of his house after having his breakfast along with his friends, looking for work. By mid-morning he and some of his friends had got work on an agricultural farm. Mahesh was skilled in driving a tractor, so he was given the job of tilling the farm. It was a fallow, uneven land and even with his skills of driving a tractor, it was difficult for Mahesh to maneuver the terrain.

While negotiating a half buried boulder the hind wheel of the tractor went over it. This threw Mahesh out of the vehicle and he fell on the ground on his side. Other workers gathered. Mahesh got up and checked himself. He sustained pelvic fracture urethral injury (PFUI).

Mahesh hardly knew that this freak fall from a tractor would virtually ruin his life for the next 18 years. That until he visited the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram.

Mahesh and his  wife Shanti were expecting a baby and Shanti was in labour when this accident happened.

Mahesh’s friends and other workers took him to a nearby hospital. While at the hospital he realized that while his bladder was full, he could not pass urine. He told the same thing to the local doctor. The local doctor told him to visit a tertiary care hospital in Hyderabad, some 100 kilometers away.

The surgeons in the Hyderabad hospital immediately put a catheter to relieve Mahesh of the pain and drained the collected urine in his bladder. By this time his parents were with him while his in-laws were taking care of his pregnant wife.

The surgeons at the hospital decided that a surgery needed to be done. Mahesh was told that his urethra, which carries urine from the bladder to release outside had been damaged. The surgery was performed which subsequently failed. The surgeons in the hospital told him that he may have to carry the catheter and the bag for the rest of this life.

Mahesh and Shanti belonged to a poor family. Though they had 2 acres of land, it was not irrigated and therefore was lying fallow most of the time. To make ends meet, both Mahesh and Shanti would work for a daily wage.

Years rolled by. Mahesh could not go out and work for the fear that any while working the catheter may get pulled out of his bladder or that his urine bag may leak. As he had to carry the urine bag all the time, he was too embarrassed to attend any social events. He was ill at ease attending even his own family functions. As half of the household income evaporated due to Mahesh not being able to work, their expenses kept rising. On one hand were the medical expenses of Mahesh and on the other hand they had a little daughter to take care of. All this while Mahesh’s wife Shanti stood like a rock supporting him and the family. It was she who would work as a daily wage worker and would run the household and pay for all the expenses including that of his treatment, singlehandedly. On some good years they would also get to grow some produce on their farm.

18 years went by like this. Then one day Mahesh developed pain in the lower abdomen. For this they went to a private hospital in Hyderabad. After the tests the doctors told him that he had developed a stone in his bladder and that it had to be operated.

“Though it was a difficult time for us, little did we realise that this new problem will form a part of the solution to the problem from which my husband was suffering for 18 years,” Shanti said. 

“The surgeon who operated upon Mahesh for the stone in Hyderabad also went through all the other documents which we had. He then suggested that the only place where this complex surgery could be done to rid Mahesh of the urine bag would be at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, Puttaparthi. And the surgeon added that the hospital was started by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, where advanced treatment is provided totally free of charge to all, “Shanti said.

“We could not believe our ears. We took the first train out of Hyderabad and came to Puttaparthi,” Mahesh said.

“At Puttaparthi we met the Urology surgeons. They performed the required tests and told us that the ailment required performing a complex surgery and that if we were willing, they would operate upon me,” Mahesh said.

“We were more than willing to undergo the operation,” Shanti said.

According to Senior Consultant, Urology, SSSIHMS, Dr. Ashwin Sekhar, “Mahesh underwent redo urethral repair using a penile skin flap. This was a complex reconstructive surgery in which urethra is reconstructed using the penile skin flap. In the first surgery, which was done elsewhere, the patient developed Bulbar Urethral Necrosis. The urethral defect was around 8 cm in length, which was reconstructed. Mahesh had an uneventful recovery”. 

“I remember I was in the ICU and the surgeon came and told me that the surgery was successful and I will be fine soon. In a few days I was shifted to the ward and soon I was fit to be discharged,” Mahesh said.

“After 18 long years of suffering I was finally able to get rid of the urine bag and could urinate normally,” Mahesh said.

“Some people may think it is not a big deal, but only the one that goes through the pain, the embarrassment and loss of self-respect knows the torment and knows the relief it gives to the person and his family,” Shanti added.

Not to be left behind, Mahesh has now started a barber’s shop in this hometown and is also contributing to the household income as he was doing 18 years ago.

“All credit to Bhagawan Baba to have got me operated here. And not a paisa was charged for the treatment,” Mahesh said. “I have put Baba’s photo in our house and am performing worship to Him on every Thursday. Baba has literally transformed my life,” he added.