“Lost many times, but giving up is not an option. I will keep trying, until I win” – 23-year-old Om Bhoyar posted a reel of his attempts to perform a deadlift at a Nagpur gym. Hours later, when he reached home on April 10, he collapsed and lost consciousness.
His mother Aarti Bhoyar, a nurse by profession, understood that her son was undergoing a paralytic attack from a possible brain hemorrhage and the ‘Golden Hour’ to possibly undo the damage was fast elapsing.
Om Bhoyar spent several hours exercising at the gym. When he lost consciousness at home and entered the critical ‘Golden Hour’, the first 3-4 hours of paramount importance in such medical situations, his mother rushed him to the hospital. Diagnostic tests found a blood clot in his brain, which was removed using a mechanical thrombectomy procedure. This ensured that smooth blood flow to his brain was restored, aiding his recovery.
Owing to his mother’s timely intervention, Om Bhoyar’s health improved rapidly and he was discharged from the hospital on April 21.
The case is reminder of the ill-effects of excessive exercise beyond physical capacity or without expert supervision. A hemorrhagic stroke, wherein a blood vessel in the brain ruptures and causes blood to leak into surrounding tissues, can cut the connection between relevant parts of the brain and connected body parts. This leads to paralysis of the body parts concerned. With timely intervention, the accumulated blood can be removed from the brain through medication or surgery, mitigating the effects of paralysis and increasing chances of recovery.
With inputs from Praveen Mudholkar