Kandhamal Junos eats with his immobile fingers – suddenly back to normal functioning after two years

Pellets are still embedded in shattered right hand bones which went stiff 2 years ago!

THRISSUR – Award winning journalist Anto Akkara who reported on Kandhamal Orissa and arranged for the surgery for Junos Naik survivor of 11 bullet wounds writes… The pellets in the hand have not been touched. Yet, the stiff hand is normal now!
The good news is that cheerful Junos left for Orissa on Sunday night after intense treatment here for 17 days. Besides the gun pellets being removed in the leg and a soft long leather shoe fixed to ease the strain. Junos had dinner in my brother’s house [Anto lives in Bangaloe] eating with his fingers. Remember he had come to Thrissur with stiff right hand – shattered bone supported with steel plate, riddled with gun pellets and unmovable fingers. What a miracle!
For me, it is mission accomplished. I could not believe the miracle when he sat with me and ate with his fingers with ease.
As each good story has a sad moment, my parish turned out to be the spoiler but maybe an instrument in God’s plan to testify to the genuineness of Kandhamal faith. Though the parish priest wanted Junos to speak at the feast day celebrations in the evening ahead of a professional drama performance. Though we fixed the program, some of the parish committee members adamantly opposed it at the last minute saying the drama would be ‘late’ if Junos was presented on the stage. So, the young parish priest decided to go with the committee decision.
I told the committee convener Sunday [21 Nov, 2010] morning standing in front of the church that it was a shame to invite a ‘living St. Sebastian’ on the feast of St Sebastian and later decide not to acknowledge his presence while many other parishes wanted me to take him to them.  Ironically, on the previous and later during the solemn feast day mass too, the sermon by outside priests was on Junos only – a living saint and [my work in bringing him to Thrissur].
The feast was to end with a third mass in the evening, solemn procession, fireworks followed by the drama by a professional troupe. I kept my word and brought Junos home from the hospital as scheduled Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, I informed the Sisters in the nearby convent about Junos visit and told them that I could take Junos to the convent so that they would meet a living martyr. Instead, the nuns were adamant that they will come to my house (though I did not want to create a conflict in the parish with all the nuns coming to my house). Mysterious are the ways of God – that’s my Kandhamal experience.

Junos in front of family altar

Seven nuns spent over an hour with Junos in my house along with my multi-media presentation to explain the Junos’ mystery hand. At 5 pm, the mass was to end and the solemn procession to start. Some of the nuns rushed to distribute communion and the heavens came down pouring… From then on for next five hours  it rained, so much so that the solemn procession, fireworks and the drama – all were washed out – without a ball being bowled. Even my 90 year-old neighbour said that there has been never such heavy unseasonal rain on the feast day in her memory [on the feast day].
I have no doubt that this was divine retribution for insulting the incredible faith of Kandhamal people. In the end Junos said, ‘God’s office is open 24×7 and the response is instant.’
Compare this with the incredible moments Junos testimony produced at the sanctuary of Divine Retreat Centre in Muringoor with over 6,000 people from across the country standing up and shouting ‘Halleluiah’ when I held up Junos hand with shattered bone and riddled with gun pellets.
When I first brought the X-rays to the doctors during the preparatory visit to Thrissur, doctor told me that the hand had to be amputated (same thing Junos had been repeatedly told by doctors).
So, it was with a heavy heart I told Junos to book the train ticket to Thrissur as my friend and a senior doctor at St John’s  Medical College in Bangalore too had cautioned me saying ‘keep your fingers crossed’.
But, remember in the end, Junos went back home with absolutely normal hand without putting the surgical knife on his miracle hand. It was indeed a miracle!
I felt sad for my good parishioners who missed an incredible opportunity to listen to a living saint due to the obstinacy of some senior parishioners. May be, God wanted my parish to be an instrument to manifest his glory.
When the rain started, I checked the status of Junos wait listed train ticket [WL 241]. It had been confirmed as per my request – by railway ministry headquarters in Delhi.
When we reached the station at 10.pm, the rain stopped briefly as Junos had to reach the platform walking from the parking area with the new long leather shoe the hospital provided to him ease the strain on the leg from which pellets had been removed. We could not afford to get it wet and God saw to it that rain did stop.
As soon as Junos got into the train, rain started again. I was worried that he was travelling alone as his travelling companion [nephew] had left after 10 days.  Then, I saw him chatting merrily with a young man seated next to him while I stood outside in the rain. Then, he told me that the young man was from his village only.
For those who believe in God, He is there to guard you like a guardian angel! Maybe, it may not be in the way human minds crave for. Indeed, mysterious are the ways of God!
I will never forget the 17 days I spent with Junos – the martyr!

CT scan pic of Junos hand

Akkara adds: For me, it is mission accomplished. I could not believe the miracle when he sat with me and ate with his fingers with ease – with the same hand any doctor – if he had a look at the X-ray – would still say that it has to be amputated.
Doctors at the Catholic Medical College Hospital were willing carry out to complicated surgery to remove the imbedded pellets (see the black spots in the attached Xray). But, it would not have done much good except being excellent specimen for medical research by removing the cluster of pellets embedded in shattered bone, remove the clumsily implanted steel. However, even after that there cannot be much change as the muscles have contracted in two years, they added.

Update on Kandhamal Christian With 11 Bullets

 

Junos Nayak with Xray. (pix The Hindu)

THRISSUR, Kerala – Journalist Anto Akkara from Bangalore gives an update of Junos Nayak, a Kandhamal survivor brought to Akkara’s home town Thrissur for surgery.
I drove home from Bangalore on the 4th to receive Junos who arrived here next day by train along with his nephew. Straight away he was rushed to the Jubilee Mission Medical College and several tests were carried out in the same evening.
I have been silent because I have been on my toes since then. The dangerous pellets in his leg were removed on Monday (8 Nov) but his hand is untouchable due to the precarious condition. It’s a miracle that the hand is still functioning though any doctor who sees it would say it has to be amputated.
Though the doctors at the Medical College are willing carry out a surgery to remove the imbedded pellets (see the black spots in the attached Xray), it may not do much good except being excellent specimen for medical research by removing the cluster of pellets embedded in shattered bone, remove the clumsily implanted steel. But, even after that there cannot be much change as the muscles have contracted in two years. Yet he can use the right hand to eat with spoon but not with fingers.
So, I said ‘Let us not meddle in God’s miracle’ and leave Junos susceptible to infection when he goes back to Kandhamal.

Juonos Nayak's hand xRay

It is a miracle that he has no infection in the hand with shattered bones. See the attached X-ray.
Yesterday, (11 Nov) we had a crowded press conference along with Junos and the doctor. Junos’ incredible ordeal and witness, and my effort to bring him here is making media headlines here. Today (12 Nov) Junos undergoes laser surgery for cataract. For me, yesterday was very fulfilling day, as I brought home couple of pellets embedded in his body!
Though one week has passed since I admitted Junos at the hospital and taking care of him suspending all media work, I cannot explain the joy of giving. And for Junos, he says he is in ‘heaven’ thanks to me – with the royal attention and loving care he gets in the VIP room of the Catholic Hospital. For earlier dispatch on Junos story pls chk this link
https://cmpaul.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/%E2%80%9Cjesus-kept-me-alive%E2%80%9D-christian-with-11-bullets-in-his-body/

 

“Jesus kept me alive”: Christian with 11 bullets in his body*

 

Junos Nayak with 11 bullet wounds & Akkara.

 

Junos Nayak, a former police constable, was one of the few Christians who survived a close brush with death during the Kandhamal carnage.
Lalji Nayak, his 65 year-old elder brother, was slashed with sword before him along with his sister-in-law Mandakini while 57 year-old Junos himself was pumped with bullets on 30 September 2008. While Lalji died in hospital next day, Mandakini went mad with broken skull.
“Look at these bullet marks. There are still 11 bullets in my body,” Junos narrated the spine-chilling attack that he survived in Gadaguda village, three kms from Udaigiri. “Four bullets (in outer parts of the body) had been removed. But the ones that are embedded deep and close to bones are still there,” Junos explained with the help of X-rays he had brought to New Delhi in August 2010 to attend the National People’s Tribunal to mark Kandhamal second anniversary.
However, this ordeal did not shake the faith of Junos, born to parents who had embraced the Christian faith decades earlier when their first born died.
“I have full faith in Jesus the Saviour. It is only because of Jesus that I survived,” said Junos, belonging to the CNI. “They fired so many bullets at me and look, not one hit my heart. Is this not a miracle?” asked Junos putting his right hand – still covered with bandage – to his heart.
“The power of God was very much there,” he replied when he was asked what he felt after the deadly attack that left his elder brother dead and sister-in-law mad.
Junos, who took voluntary retirement from police after he was injured in an attack by Maoist rebels in 1982, said that after the killing of Swami Lakshmanananda, local fundamentalists confronted the Christians: “Your people killed our Swami and tell us their names.”
“We will no longer tolerate Christianity here and all of you have to follow Hinduism now,” they also threatened.
With reports of anti-Christian violence pouring in from across Kandhamal, most of the 50 Christian families among 500 families in the three villages in the area including Gadaguda fled to the jungles. But three families including that of Junos and his brother Lalji decided to stay on.
“Being Christians, we did not want to be cowards and run away when we were threatened,” explained the former police constable.
However, his Hindu cousin confided to him that the fundamentalists were serious about the threat and were planning to attack the defiant Christians. Hence, he advised Junos to attend the reconversion ceremony and buy peace with them.
Meanwhile, another friendly Hindu suggested: “Why don’t you just go and eat the Prasad (sacred offering) at the temple? Later you can practice your faith secretly.”
But Junos was not prepared to make any compromise with his faith: “I told him I will not do the duplicate to please them. I will never compromise with my faith.”
A secret meeting was held in the jungle and fundamentalist leaders from outside briefed locals how to carry out the attack. Soon the village church was torched. Barrels of kerosene were brought and stored at the Panchayath office and nearby houses.
The drunkards among them spilled the news that deadline had been set to attack the adamant Christians.
His cousin approached Junos once again, clutched his hand and pleaded: “Please go away from here. Otherwise, I will have to leave the village as I don’t want to see you being killed in front of me.”
But Junos thought they would only loot and so, decided to stay on in the village. Later he came to know while he was in hospital that fundamentalists had landed in trucks on 29 September night and halted in the village.
“At four in the morning, a mob descended all of a sudden shouting ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’. They caught hold of my brother and ordered him to accompany them to the temple (for reconversion ceremony). When he refused, they hit him with a sword and he collapsed. Then, they hit sister-in law who had rushed forward,” recounted Junos.
Meanwhile, his wife Laila, son Sujan and daughter Asmita had moved away when the mob arrived.
“As they were attacking my brother and sister-in-law, I tried to run away. But they sprayed bullets at me from close range,” Junos recalled.
After that, Junos had only faint memory of being carried in an open truck among dead bodies and injured Christians including his brother and his wife to hospital by the police who rushed them later to Medical College Hospital at Berhampur, 150 kms away.
There, doctors told Junos’ son to rush him to the government Medical College Hospital at Cuttack (160 kms away) as he was very critical.
“Luckily, my son had a friend who brought a van and took me to Cuttack,” Junos said with a smile. During two week-long treatment at the Cuttack Hospital, his condition improved with the deep bullet wounds stitched together and four bullets removed.
Later, Junos and his family rented a house at Banja Nagar – on the fringe of Kandhamal – as they could not return to the village where his house had been reduced to a skeleton with its roof, doors and windows looted.
“My son goes there occasionally and they threaten that unless I withdraw the (police) complaint, they will finish me off,” said Junos.
However, Junos is not worried about these threats: “Whatever may happen, I will not forsake my faith.
“But I am worried about the bullets in my body. I have lot of pain and doctors have told me to remove them at the earliest. It is two years now. But I don’t have the money for the expensive surgery. Maybe, God will find me a way,” said Junos echoing true Christian hope.
PS: Akkara’s little parish St Mary’s Church Ambakad near Thrissur accepted his proposal to adopt ‘St Paul of Kandhamal‘ – buy a plot of land for him and build a house at Phulbani where he is living in a slum now.  “That’s not all,” says the intrepid social activist and journalist Akkara with law background on 27 October 2010, “I have also made the Thrissur archdiocese to agree to bear the entire cost of treatment to remove the 11- bullets in Junos Nayak. I sat with the surgeons on Saturday and Junos will be in Thrissur for admission at Jubilee Mission Medical College soon. So, I need to be there to receive Junos when he arrives by train. It will be a quite complicated surgery as the arm bones have been severely damaged and has infection. Removal of some of other pellets also pose major problem as they are embedded close to the body. Kindly keep him in your prayers. The operation will cost over one lakh but I will make sure that Junos and his son accompanying him will not have to spend a penny even for their travel. Apart from that, I am trying to get life-long commitment that Junos will not have to worry about his medicines.”
Anto Akkara is a journalist based in Bangalore. Malayalam edition of Shining Faith in Kandhamal entitled ‘Theeyil Thilangia Viswasam’ was released at the famous Maramon Convention on Pampa river by KCBC and KCC presidents in February 2010.
(*from Anto Akkara’s English language edition of book Shining Faith.)