A journey from darkness into light
Christmas has come early for Paratrooper Manchu. After six years of service in the Indian Army’s elite Special Forces, Manchu, a young Naga warrior from the Konyak tribe, will be celebrating the festival at home. He was home at Christmas last year too, but no one celebrated.
Manchu’s world was full of darkness. He had survived a terror attack and saved two comrades, an act for which he was later awarded the Shaurya Chakra. But shrapnel injuries had cost him his eyesight.
But today, he has near perfect vision, thanks to the innovative operative techniques at Lucknow’s Command Hospital.
“I will be making a testimony in church to thank everyone who stood by me,” says a beaming Manchu, who is recovering in Lucknow. Topping the list of people he will thank is Col Sanjay Mishra, the eye surgeon who restored his vision.
When Manchu came to Col Mishra, he had already undergone multiple surgeries at a specialty eye hospital in Chennai. Innumerable splinters had been removed from his eyes but Manchu’s iris was shattered, the cornea was damaged and the retina was scarred. On January 25, 2018, the news that he had been awarded the Shaurya Chakra had to be read out to him because he could not see. When he had smartly marched before the President Ram Nath Kovind for his investiture ceremony, he was wearing the soda-bottle thick spectacles.
The day that had left Manchu’s world in darkness began like any other day. It was June 6, 2017. He was posted in Nagaland. “We were at Tizit village where intelligence reports had talked of terrorist movement. Two three-wheelers came hurtling towards us. They opened fire. With the fire-fight going on, I was reloading my gun when a grenade burst very close to me. It was already past 10 and everything was pitch dark. I continued fighting and even dragged two of my comrades to safety. It was only when relief came and I
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When I got the Shaurya Chakra, I met our PM Modiji. He asked me if I could see. I told him that it was impossible without glasses. PARATROOPER MANCHU
was unable to make out anything except the blurry halo of the headlights that I realised that my eyes had taken a hit,” recalled Manchu.
“All through our helievacuation to hospital, I felt that I was sitting in dense fog. I could not see anything,” recalled Manchu.
After a series of surgeries in Chennai, he was given spectacles so thick they could be used like a magnifying glass to set paper on fire. “When I got the Shaurya Chakra, I met our Prime Minister Modiji. He asked me if I could see. I told him that it was impossible without glasses and even with glasses it was very blurry. I met our Chief of Army Staff. His wife said that hearing my citation brought tears to her eyes,” Manchu said.
His father, Yaei Konyak, was with him – leaving his village for the first time - to attend the investiture ceremony. His chest swelled with pride every time he looked at this son. There was much to be happy about.
But Manchu was not happy. “Living like this – unable to see – was unbearable. When I met the Army Chief General Bipin Rawat again on Independence Day, I requested him to help me,” says Manchu.
The Army Chief knew just the man for the job – Col Sanjay Mishra. He had also restored the vision of a soldier injured in the Pathankot terror attack of 2016.
Manchu reached Lucknow on August 17 and Col Mishra operated on him 10 days later.“Manchu’s case was extremely challenging. The splinters had pierced the retina, lens and cornea of both eyes,” Col Mishra said.
But he had a plan for the surgery – he would replace the shattered and scarred lens with artificial lens.
But to implant the new lens, he needed a base – some kind of frame - to affix the lens on to.
“It was a technical challenge. I made two small incisions in the white part of the eye - to act as a bracket – and slid the lens into position. It was critical to ensure that the lens was centred and not tilted. There was also the risk that the entire eye may collapse,” says Col Mishra.
A month after the first surgery, Col Mishra operated on the left eye. “We needed to wait to see whether the first lens was holding,” recalled Col Mishra. The successful surgery of the second eye has left Manchu beaming.
“No man left behind” is not just a phrase for the Indian Army – it is a way of life. Even when Manchu was down, his comrades-inarms, his army doctors and his Army Chief did not leave him. Together, they have helped him walk out of darkness into light.