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Shifting between life and death: the story of Botond
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A young Hungarian traveller, Botond spent over twenty hours in an Indian hospital with a double spine fracture and a ruptured skull. Even his bed was pushed aside on a corridor as he was not in the condition to be operated on. The story of Botond is something you only see in the movies and although the happy ending has not yet come, the young man is fighting with all his will to get his life back.
Botond studied political science-economics-philosophy at a university in the Netherlands, which allows students to spend their final semester in another country as part of an exchange programme. Botond and his friend decided to explore India in their sabbatical year, Blikk reports.
“We wanted him to come home, but he chose India instead,” said Botond’s mother, Bogata Holl. “On the last day of his stay, we received a message from him saying that he was coming home, and his flight would arrive in the evening.”
Being helpless in Mumbai
Botond’s father went to pick him up from the airport, but Botond did not arrive. The parents proceeded to call the Hungarian consulate in Mumbai. They have been grateful to the embassy staff ever since, as they were able to track down Botond very quickly in the large metropolitan city. It turned out that the young man was in a public hospital with life-threatening injuries, having broken his spine in an accident.
The parents also learned that the doctors at this hospital were clueless about what to do, so Botond had to be transferred to a private hospital where he could undergo the proper operation. But there they charged for everything, even for the use of a rubber glove or a catheter tube. Botond had to be operated twice, each operation cost 6 million forints (15,600 EUR) alone.
“It was unbelievable to see how many people helped with money or in other ways,” said Bogata, whose colleagues also organised a fundraiser. Moreover, she was also grateful to her brother and his girlfriend, who – while they were in India – did everything they could to raise as much money as possible at home.
