Mumbai: Firework-related accidents are not just an annual occurrence that Diwali brings. A seven-monthold child lying in a Wadala hospital is a grim reminder of what careless play with firecrackers can lead to. Dilpreet’s parents had taken him to a wedding celebration on Saturday when a spark from a ladi (string) flew into his eye, nearly robbing him of vision. “At least if he was older, we could have blamed him for being naughty. But what has he done to deserve this?’’ asks his anguished mother Inderjeet as she looks at her younger son, his left eye swathed in green bandage.

   Dilpreet was in his father’s arms when metal pieces and chemicals from the firecrackers flew into his eye. But his parents realised something was wrong only when his eye started bleeding. “We rushed from one paediatrician to a nursing home in our locality to MGM Hospital in Vashi, where he finally got some help,’’ says his father Sukhwinder.

   The baby was then shifted to Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital at Wadala where he underwent a two-hour-long surgery. “When he came in his cornea was torn and the chemicals had caused infection,’’ says chairman of the All India Opthalmological Society, Dr S Natarajan, who operated upon him on Monday.

   But even high-tech cornea repair surgery, lensectomy (to remove the lens when it develops cataract) and expensive antibiotics will not be able to ensure that Dilpreet doesn’t lose eyesight. Doctors say they will be able to assess his retinal damage only after two months.

   “We need to learn from such incidents that enjoyment should be kept within bounds. Prevention is certainly better than cure,’’ cautions Dr Natarajan. “Most often, it is not the person who is playing, but the person who iswatching who is at risk,’’ says J J Hospital’s head of opthalmology T P Lahane. 

toireporter@timesgroup.com