Former Asian Games gold medallist boxer Dingko Singh has been caught between a rock and a hard place as he desperately seeks treatment for liver cancer but doesn’t have the required facilities in Manipur for the radiation therapy and cannot travel to New Delhi due to the lockdown imposed following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Times of India reported.
The 41-year-old, who had suffered a liver cancer three years ago, had suffered a relapse earlier this year and was to undergo radiation therapy in New Delhi’s Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences but the treatment had to be put off due to his low blood count. He was therefore given medication to boost the blood count as was supposed to return to the national capital for therapy by March end of April first week.
Doctors in Delhi had asked Dingko to come to the capital around 10 days ago and he had even booked a flight for April 19, hoping that the lockdown will be eased by April 15.
But with the lockdown extended till May 3 and air travel still suspended, the former bantamweight boxer has been forced to make alternate arrangement for treatment in Imphal or find a way to drive down in an ambulance to Guwahati (500 km) or Kolkata (1500 km) if he can get the required permissions for the District Magistrate.
Manipur, so far, has had just two positive coronavirus cases and travelling to Imphal for treatment should not be a problem for the couple. However, the medical facilities in the state are not up to the mark.
“We are at our wit’s end. It’s an extremely worrying time. He has constant high fever and is weakening each day. He has even lost his calm and humour.” his wife Babai Devi was quoted as saying.
They have been so desperate that, Babai Devi has been showing Dingko’s horoscope to astrologers in Sekta village, where they are currently living, to find a solution.
The ILBS doctors are hoping that the advised course of treatment could help buy some time before he can be shifted to Delhi, if and when the situation improves, the report said.