Mangaluru: With only dreams of a better life as his constant companion, Hosamane Jayaram Shetty, 48, struggles on,having spent the better part of his youth bedridden.

Shetty, a resident of Sarkal village in Kundapur taluk, still sees a silver lining in the dark clouds that have surrounded him. Twenty-six years ago, Shetty had big dreams, but they came crashing down after an accident left him impaired below the waist.

Then, as a bright, young 22-year old supervisor at a construction company, he had nursed the dream of setting up his own construction firm. An accident during tunnel construction work for Konkan Railway at Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, left him with a fracture of T-7 vertebra, leaving him paralyzed waist down. Though the company supported him for five years initially, and later an NGO did through a philanthropist,help dried up, making Shetty pray that human kindness would help him out of his financial misery.

Shetty’s monthly medical expenses run close to Rs 9,000, which he can ill-afford without employment. Though he bought a Maruti Omni and ran a travel business on a small scale, his earnings at the end of the month are a paltry Rs400, after the vehicle EMI payout.

“My vehicle can’t even be used to ferry children to school,” he says. Moreover, Shetty also has the responsibility of feeding his 93-year-old mother, leaving again a big question mark on his medical bills.

Shetty has no control over his bowel and bladder movements, and for 26 years has been using an asuprapubic catheter, which has to be changed every month. Doctors treating him note that Shetty faces the risk of developing bladder and kidney stones and infection due to the age factor. He has appealed to philanthropists to help him financially. Shetty can be contacted on 9945944893.