Shivrajkumar makes fourteen-year-old amputee fan's dream come true

Mysore: Fourteen-year- old Ullekh felt he had lost everything when his left leg was amputated after it was crushed by the KSRTC bus he was trying to board in October last year. While in hospital recently, he asked to see his favourite star, “Shivanna,” and his dream came true when Sandalwood star, Shivrajkumar visited him in his home here on Saturday.

The star was in Mysuru to attend the Suttur Jathra Mahotsav and took time out to visit the boy, whose entire family is a fan of the late iconic Dr Rajkumar. In fact, Ullekh’s father, Bannur Puttaswamy, a cable operator in Bannur, is a member of the  Dr Rajkumar Fans’ Association. "Ullekh is fond of Appu (Puneeth Rajkumar) and Shivanna. While he was hospitalised, he said he  wanted to meet Shivanna. So he was very happy when Shivanna came to our house to meet Ullekh and spent over an hour with him. He told him that bad incidents do happen, but he had to be courageous and move forward as he was young and technological advancements could help with  his mobility,” recounted the boy’s distraught father.  

“Since Ullekh has not been able to attend classes, we are collecting notes from his school and  he is studying at home. He will be allowed to write his exam this year,” he added.

Recalling the accident, he said that on October 23 after finishing  school at 4.15pm Ullekh reached the KSRTC city bus station at around 4.45pm, but a conductor refused to let him into one bus  as he had a pass, and so he tried to catch another.

“But once again this bus conductor too noticed that he was a pass holder and reportedly asked the driver to move on. Ullekh  fell down in the meanwhile and his left leg was entangled in the  back wheel of the bus. Although the people around shouted for the  bus to stop , the driver did not and as a result his left leg was  crushed. He was rushed to a private hospital, where doctors removed his left leg after surgery. He is  a brilliant child and dreamt of becoming an IPS officer,” he recounted sadly.    

The family has registered a complaint of negligence against both bus conductor and bus driver. “I will fight to get justice to ensure that such incidents don’t ever happen,” Mr Puttaswamy vowed.