Wushu death: Referee just kept watching:

My son was struck repeatedly while he lay fallen - mother

Shanika SRIYANANDA and Shirajiv SIRIMANE

For Karuna Jayawickrema holding the cold hand of her son, who was dying, was the last chance to feel the 'warmth' of the bondage between the two.

Never thought that he would `say good bye' so pathetically; the Jayawickrama family made vows in temples and kovils that a miracle would make 18 year-old Pasindu breathe again. Days passed but the teenager, whose brain was damaged due to heavy internal haemorrhage, was closing to death. The life saving machines could not hold him for more. Doctors saw the reality, but felt helpless to convey the truth to his parents, relatives and schoolmates.

Mother unconscious

Soon after the Jayawickrama family returned from a religious ceremony to invoke blessings on Pasindu organised by the Maths and Science students of D.S. Senanayake College last Thursday morning, they got the most heart breaking news that a parent could ever get.

"Pasindu has died", the caller made Karuna unconscious. How can this mother who lost the chance to speak to her son, who was searching in vain for his mother to tell her of his head pain, bear the agony of knowing her son had died after going for a Wushu tournament?

"I rushed to the Kalubowila Hospital on hearing that he was admitted. He had a severe headache and he was pleading to see me. Sometimes there is no help even in the most desperate of situations. For the guard did not allow me to enter. When I went there my son was conscious", sobbed Karuna who missed talking to her son which would have been the last, due to a delay of a few minutes.

Karuna and her husband Nihal, a technical officer of the Buildings Department, later held the cold hand of their son and he slightly felt the warmth of the hands as he held them tightly though he was in fits. "I think he had felt our warmth", she said.

Pasindu, a Wushu contestant, was attacked continuously by the opponent at a tournament concluded recently leading to a severe headache and was admitted to the Kalubowila Hospital and later transferred to the Colombo National Hospital (CNH). Karuna said that as the scan machine of the CNH had broken down, Pasindu was sent to the Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital to get a scan done at 8 p.m. The doctors who checked the scan reports, saw the worst as Pasindu had suffered heavy internal bleeding. When the parents started crying, the doctors, knowing there were no medical miracles to save his life advised them to do religious rituals.

But the medical team tried their best to save Pasindu's life.

A four-hour long surgery was performed. With no positive signs of a recovery. He had spent his last four days at the ICU. The doctors, including Karuna's own brother, who is a doctor, who saw no light at the end of the tunnel, asked them to pray to the Gods.

Now, Pasindu is no more. His garlanded photograph with a charming and shy smile hangs on the wall at home.

The Jayawickrema family, who were getting ready for the alms giving to bestow merit on Pasindu, was shocked and crying in pain. His house at Katuwawela Road, Boralesgamuwa was filled with sorrow. The second child of the family, he was a very innocent boy, according to his mother Karuna.

"He was a very studious child and got seven `A's, two `B's and one `C' at his Ordinary Levels. He is one child, who never got scolded by us. He was very obedient and always wore a charming smile. He was popular among his friends and in school respected as a very decent child", Pasindu's father said. Recalling that ill-fated day when Pasindu worshipped his parents before leaving for the tournament, Karuna said she lost her son due to the negligence of the organisers who employed unqualified judges and did not have a doctor and an ambulance in an emergency.

Wushu organisers negligence

"Even while my son lay fallen, his opponent kept hitting him on his head while the judge shockingly did not stop him", she complained.

The grieving mother sobbed recalling how she saw her helpless son on TV being struck repeatedly by his opponent.

"What an innocent child he was brought up like a flower. I never thought that he would be mauled to death in this manner," she grieved.

"Why did not the judge stop the fight", that is the only question left for her to ponder; something she would surely continue to repeat.

"Pasindu was only given two panadols and left alone unattended while he was screaming in pain," Karuna alleged adding that Pasindu was medically checked by the family doctor and endorsed as fit to participate in the tournament just the day before the event."I know no one can bring my son back. But I have a request to the organisers of all sports tournaments and parents - to be more careful about children's lives. We take lots of effort and sacrifices to bring up our children. They cannot be let to die unfortunately", she sobbed.Karuna and Nihal have lost their beloved son. And in that unbearable grief Pasindu's mother has a weeping request from the school authorities who train children.

Let them become good sportsmen. Teach them not to compete ruthlessly to win, but to accept defeat as well with humility."