When summer showers brought misery to a young student

14-year-old’s leg amputated after he was trapped under uprooted tree

Unexpected showers accompanied by gutsy winds lasting just a few minutes last week changed the life of 14-year-old Kathiravan, seemingly irrevocably. Having left his home at Gandhi Nagar with his cousin Arun Pandy last Thursday, the Class 9 student of SRV High School in the city ended up at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam, where he remains admitted with an amputated leg. He had gone to meet another cousin Dinesh, who was playing football at the Ambedkar Stadium, when the sudden bout of summer rain sent the three of them scurrying for shelter under a giant tree near the stadium. Little did they know of the lurking danger when the strong wind uprooted the tree. Two of the youngsters were trapped beneath it.