A series of overwhelming misfortunes: the tragic story of ATK Junior goalkeeper Rahul Das

FOOTBALL IS FULL OF STORIES of players' struggles with injuries. And in Indian football, tales of players who found themselves with no one to back them up at a time when they were at their most vulnerable are unfortunately too commonplace.

Almost every successful player today has a story of dealing with a difficult injury and a long hard road to recovery. But for every success story there are many instances where injuries end players' careers, take away their livelihood, or change their lives forever. 

What happened to Rahul Das, a young goalkeeper yet to get a chance to play at the senior level, is more unfortunate than most such stories. A pile of unfortunate incidents in quick succession has brought him to a dark place where dreams of playing in the top league of the country has been replaced by a waking nightmare.

Yesterday, a Bengali newspaper named Ei Samay first told the story of Rahul. Coming from a not so well-to-do family in Belgharia, Rahul wanted nothing more than to pursue a career as a goalkeeper. He had played for multiple academies and junior teams including the famed Ekata Sangha and Eastern Railway U-19, in junior tournaments. He thought the first big break in his career had arrived when he got the chance to play for the Junior side of Atletico de Kolkata, the ISL franchise. ATK Junior play in a lower division of the Calcutta Football League and he joined them as a custodian.

The first tragedy struck when he got an injury on his knee and tore his ligament during a practice match against Customs. This happened last year and was the beginning of the toughest 12 months of his life.

He sought treatment from a government hospital for about 8 months without having the means to afford a specialist. During this time he lost his father, who was a homeopathic practictioner. In March, with some help from the state government's sports ministry, he got operated on at PG Hospital in Kolkata. Next day, he felt a sudden increase in pain on his leg. It was discovered that he had gangrene, and for the next 3 months he went through several operations. Today, he is back home but unable to walk. His dream of becoming a professional footballer is all but gone; no one knows how long it will take for him to be able to walk normally let alone play football.

When TFG reached out to Rahul, he placed a big part of the blame for this mishap on the doctor who operated on him,

"I want to sue the doctor. He has ruined my future. I am at a stage where I have nothing left to lose. So if I can get some compensation for what happened to me, I'll give it a try. But the problem is I don't have enough money to fight a legal battle... my father didn't leave much and I am left unable to properly move around or work."

Rahul believes the gangrene resulted from the doctor's negligence during the first operation. The doctor in question, Tanmay Dutta, does not agree and told Rahul it must have resulted from his own negligence. Rahul vehemently disagrees,

"The problem started the day after I was operated on. And multiple operations were performed on me after I experienced the increased pain in my leg. This happened for 3 months. And during this time, Dr Dutta never told me or my family what had gone wrong with my leg. It was only recently when I consulted a different doctor that I found out about the gangrene. It was the new doctor who told me what it was and what may have caused it. Otherwise I still wouldn't know what exactly was wrong with my leg. And when I called Dr Dutta to talk about it, he said it must have happened because of something I did myself. How is that possible? Would I open the bandage and tamper with my wound or give myself an injection when I was at a hospital?"

Rahul told TFG that he was in dire need of money to pursue this case; even the share from a sale of their house he and his mother got is not enough to fund it.

But the whole incident raises a different question altogether, one concerning the ISL franchise Atletico de Kolkata. ATK are a big team playing in the richest league of the country. They just bought marquee player Robbie Keane for a premium amount. They also have a reputation for thorough professionalism. Since he was playing for the ATK Junior team when the injury occurred, why didn't the franchise take care of his treatment? A player shouldn't have to wait 8-9 months to get an operation for a torn ligament in the first place!

Rahul, though, has only good things to say about ATK. He cherishes the memories of being with the team and its officials. He told TFG,

"ATK treated me very well, better than any other team I played for. Most of the time players get a hard time getting paid in Kolkata, but right after my injury ATK cleared my full payment. Our physio Bhaskar was very good to me, he even personally offered to help me with the recovery after the operation."

Even during his injury his loyalty to the team didn't go away. Rahul reminisced,

"Despite getting injured early in the season I went to attend every match our team had. Even when my father died I turned up to see my team play. I sacrificed a lot for ATK Junior team, and they have been good to me always."

But despite Rahul showing nothing but goodwill towards ATK, the fact remains that his initial treatment after the injury was not overseen or paid for by the franchise. And this is where the franchise's account of events differs from that of Rahul.

TFG reached out to Mr Raghu Iyer, the CEO of ATK. The whole incident had only been brought to his notice after the article in Ei Samay came out. He told us,

"From what I have been given to understand, we wanted to take care of the medical care needed to treat his injury. As you know, we are a large club and we take utmost precaution in these cases. We even take out medical insurances for our players, we don't cut corners. But in this case the player himself chose to go to some other doctor and seek treatment on his own. It's very unfortunate what happened to him."

But Rahul says it did not happen like that,

"I did go to a doctor on my own right after I got injured. But ATK officials did not tell me that they could arrange for my treatment. I had no idea about that. If I knew they could get me treated by a good doctor, would I choose to get stuck with a government hospital for eight months, just making rounds after rounds? I have all my papers and medical records, they just made me come back for visit after visit. Eight months at RG Kar Hospital, another month at PG... it took that long to get myself operated. Why would I choose this? I didn't contact ATK or ask for their help, that's true. But they didn't stay in touch with me or make enquiries about my health either. I feel they should have told me I could get help in the first place."

Could this have been a terrible case of miscommunication that set his misfortunes with the injury in motion? Rahul does not know the answer.

And still, to this day, his loyalty to his team has not faltered. He said,

"I have no complaints about ATK. They have always treated me well. Perhaps some of it was my fault. Right now I just want to pursue the case against Dr Dutta."

So, struck by a horrible injury, long delay in operation, a death in the family, and a medical procedure gone wrong, Rahul has seen the life he wanted to build for himself come crashing down all around him. And the legal battle he faces right now demands a daunting amount of resources to even get off the ground. 

But still, amidst all this, good news may be coming his way. Mr Iyer, the ATK CEO, sounded concerened about Rahul when he spoke to TFG. He said,

"Look, I just got to know about all this today, due to a newspaper article. The report painted ATK in a negative way. But I'm saddened by what this player went through. Now that it has come to my notice, we will look into what happened. Hundred percent. We will find out what transpired, and if there's anything that we have to do or can do for him we will always do it. I don't know what we can do on a legal basis but whatever we can do on humanitarian grounds we'll make sure it's done. I will look into it personally first thing. It is very unfortunate what happened due to medical negligence from the doctor, if what he claims is true. I hope Rahul recovers completely. I will also speak to my people to find out exactly what happened."

If Rahul gets help from ATK, it may turn out to be a lifeline for him, and a ray of hope at a time he sees none. 

For now, the young footballer is adamantly refusing to give up,

"The doctors didn't tell me how long it will take to recover. They just said, it's going to take time. But I want to get back on the pitch. I'll do whatever I have to do, as long as it takes."

With a mother dependent on him, and the intimidating prospect of running a legal case against a powerful doctor, the uncertain recovery from a grave injury is just one of the overwhelming battles Rahul Das is facing right now.

UPDATE: A couple of days within the publication of this story, Rahul Das receieved some respite after a long battle with bad times. Dipbendu Biswas, a former player turned politician and also the current Football Committee Chairman of Mohammedan Sporting, met up with Rahul and donated a cheque of Rs 50,000 to aid with his recovery and other financial needs.

The ATK management also came out and pledged to support Rahul. Meanwhile, several fan groups online belonging to several Kolkata-based clubs including East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are trying to raise funds within themselves to help him out. 

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