Baljit flies to USA tonight

New Delhi: Injured hockey goalkeeper Baljit Singh will leave for the United States tonight, hoping to

regain his full vision after a freak incident during a practice camp in Pune left him with a damaged eye. Accompanied by Dr Kiran Gopalakrishnan, a member of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) team that had performed a surgery on his eye, Baljit will have his post-operative treatment at John Hopkins Medical Centre, Baltimore, Hockey India said in a statement. He will also be examined by the world renowned eye specialist Dr Robert Morris at Alabama next week, it added. Baljit had been badly injured when a golf ball, with which he was practising, sneaked through his visor to damage his right eye during the coaching camp in Pune. Baljit had to be airlifted to the capital and an AIIMS team, led by cornea specialist Dr Sudershan Khokhar, conducted a four-hour emergency operation. The ultrasonography tests showed the globe to be shrunken and deformed with the intra-ocular contents showing heterogeneous appearance with hemorrhage in the vitreous. The Sports Ministry then decided to bear all the expense of Baljit`s treatment abroad. Indian Olympic Association secretary Randhir Singh thanked the Ministry for the gesture and said, "I want to thank the government for making all the arrangements and issuing a passport to Baljit`s father in no time so that he can accompany his son. It was also appreciable on the American embassy`s part to issue visa urgently." Bureau Report