Hit with toy gun pellet, 16-year-old loses his left eye

NEW DELHI: A game of shooting with a

toy gun

turned tragic for 16-year-old Ishan Sharma when a stray

pellet

hit his left eye blinding him for life. The incident happened last Thursday while Sharma was playing in his neighbour’s balcony.

Sharma had gone to his friend Harsh’s house in

East Rohtash Nagar

in east Delhi. While they were playing in the balcony, a senior schoolmate pointed a toy gun at them. “We were chatting in the balcony when I saw my senior shooting with his BB gun. I asked him to stop as the pellet could hurt anyone, but he didn’t listen and fired the gun continuously,” he said.

One of the pellets then struck Sharma’s eye. His friends, Harsh and Priyanshu, rushed him to a nearby nursing home in Balbir Nagar Extension from where he was referred to GTB hospital. “Harsh called me after taking Ishan to GTB hospital,” said Sarika (42), Sharma’s mother.

As ENT tests done at GTB hospital showed it to be a critical wound, Sharma was referred to AIIMS. “The X-ray showed that the pellet was still inside the eye. He has lost his left eye’s vision. The accused is a Class XII student. He behaved in a careless manner,” said Sanjay Sharma (45), Ishan’s father.

The injured boy was discharged from the hospital and given medication for 15 days. “As the pellet is deep inside, doctors will have to remove his eye,” Sarika said.

“I had a dream of becoming a cricketer, but now it seems difficult. I will have to reappear for the Class X Board examinations next year,” Ishan said. Police are searching for the accused.