Special athlete Vijay Mishra is running from pillar to post for the treatment of his ailing mother.

The 37-year-old Mishra’s mother Eva suffered brain haemorrhage some days back and underwent treatment at Mercy Hospital in Baridih. She was discharged from the hospital on Saturday as doctors said she should undergo treatment at her home. Eva’s condition is said to be critical and she is showing signs of memory loss.

Intellectually impaired Vijay, who was part of the Indian football team that claimed silver in the Special Olympics International World Summer Games held at Connecticut in the US in 1995 and later represented the country in floor hockey in the World Winter Games in Busan, Japan in 2005, said his mother’s blood pressure shot up and subsequently she suffered brain haemorrhage.

“ The right side of my mother is also paralysed. I am in need of financial aid for meeting her medical expenses. She was admitted to the hospital on September 22. So far my relatives have helped us out but they also have their limitations. A sum of over Rs 20,000 has already been spent and doctors have said a further Rs 50,000 was needed for medical treatment. My mother is bedridden. I am very worried and seeking help from various quarters. But so far no help has come my way,” Vijay, a resident of zone number 4, Birsanagar said.

The former international medallist lives with his 65-year-old mother at his aunt’s home. His father has passed away.

Special Olympics Jharkhand (SOJ) assistant area director Satbir Singh Sahota, who visited Eva at the hospital last week, said she (Vijay’s mother) failed to recognise him. “I think she has lost her memory. Money is urgently needed for her medical treatment,” he added.

Sahota, a former international cyclist, said they have requested Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) to extend financial help to Vijay so that he can meet the medical expenses of his mother. “We have requested the SOB and have also highlighted Vijay’s financial condition,” he added.

According to him, they have also requested members of SOJ to contribute Rs 1,000 each for Vijay’s help. “Some members have sent money to Vijay’s bank account. SOJ area director Bailey Bodhanwala will also chip in with Rs 10,000 from his side. After all, Vijay has made us proud by winning silver in the World Games,” Sahota, resource person (for cycling) in SOB, said.

Special Olympics Bharat, a national organisation which works for the promotion of intellectually impaired, had given Rs 20,000 as financial assistance to Jamshedpur-based special athlete Sanjeev Das who needed money for the treatment of his pregnant wife in June this year.

Sanjeev, who worked at a firm in Baroda (Gujarat) lost his job in view of the Covid-induced nationwide lockdown. He returned from Baroda and went to New Delhi to be with his wife’s side at her in-law’s home.

Moreover, a senior SOB functionary and a UK-based businessman had also provided Rs 10,000 each to special powerlifter Neha Rajak whose family was facing problems during the lockdown. Neha had won four bronze medals in powerlifting in the World Summer Games held in Abu Dhabi last year.