Accident: The new academic session is just around the corner. Sonam Wangchuk, 19, got a temporary job to clear the roads at Shingkhar gewog in Zhemgang.

It was 8:30 am and the work had just begun. Suddenly, out of no where, boulders started falling down from the cliff. Sonam Wangchuk is hit on the head. Workers rush to the scene.

Sonam Wangchuk is in the ICU of Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital in Thimphu, unconscious. Tashi Wangdi, 20, Sonam Wangchuk’s cousin, is standing near the bed, taking care of his brother.

Sonam Wangchuk was rushed to Yebilaptsa BHU immediately after the incident. From there, the case was referred to Thimphu. Sonam and Tashi reached Thimphu the next morning at 4.30.

“I don’t know what exactly happened. Everyone was busy doing his or her part.  Some say a falling boulder hit him when a blast took place,” said Tashi Wangdi. When the incident occurred, it had been just three days since Sonam began working by the road to make some money for the coming academic session. The workers were paid Nu 250 a day.

Doctors at the ICU said that Sonam Wangchuk is suffering from traumatic brain injury. There has been some improvement after Sonam got to hospital in Thimphu. He can new breathe.

Sonam Wangchuk is a class XII student at School for Langauge and Culture Studies at Babesa in Thimphu.

By Thinley Zangmo