Anurag Sharma, the student who lost his life due to a ball injury at IIT Roorkee.

Would anyone have imagined that a game of Squash could actually change the game of fate itself? This is precisely what happened to 20-year-old, Anurag Sharma, who passed away on Sunday, January 16, 2016. A second-year student at IIT Roorkee, pursuing his B.Tech degree in Computer Science and Engineering, Anurag was injured on the left eye while playing squash with his batch mate.

He was one among the brightest students in his batch. Teachers and students fondly remember him as a soft-spoken and enthusiastic chap, who had a happy-go-lucky approach to life. “No one ever thought that the injury will lead to his death. He suffered an injury under his left eye when he turned behind and looked ahead again while playing. The ball hit him under his eye in the split second. Besides, he was not wearing eye gear either.” said a friend in his batch.

According to anurag’s friends at IIT Roorkee his eyes swelled up immediately post the hit, and he complained of a blurred vision in that eye. He was taken immediately to the medical unit in IIT Roorkee- where he was advised a hospital visit. The hospital closest to IIT Roorkee is at Dehradun, some 60 kilometres away. Anurag’s parents are in Rajasthan but his relatives stay in Meerut. Hence, apparently, Anurag himself suggested he be taken to Meerut where his uncle lives, instead of Dehradun. He was accompanied by two of his friends, one of them being his squash partner. Meerut is some 110 kilometres away.

At Meerut, Anurag was taken to Dr. Sandeep Mithal, a renowned eye specialist in the city. “Anurag was given a few pain-killers and eye drops. A scan was conducted, and the doctor said that it will be alright in a few days time.” uncle Pawan Sharma told PaGaLGuY. After just one dosage of the medicine, the next day in the morning Anurag happily claimed that his vision was just fine the uncle added. Anurag even messaged one of his classmates that he would return to the institute in a week, said the uncle.

Things seemed okay, until January 15, 2016 when he complained of pain again. “He didn’t express the intensity of the pain to anyone. His uncle took him the doctor again. There he was again given pain killers. Thereafter he was scheduled to make another visit to the same doctor for an eye wash on January 17,”said his father Anand Sharm

On the night of January 15, 2016, after his appointment Anurag seemed relaxed and decided to chill with his cousin together at home. The duo ordered a pizza and also watched a movie. Later, they both went off to sleep. Who could ever have thought that ‘Chotu’ as he is fondly called at home, will go to sleep only to never wake up ever again.

The next morning

He was rushed to the KMC Hospital and Research Centre, where he was declared dead on arrival.

While the family is still in shock over the death, they feel a little let down that IIT Roorkee did not call to check on him while he was ill. More so, because the accident happened on campus.