Budhamagar, 21, from Sitapaila, Kathmandu, was injured fatally in men´s 52 kg fight during Inter-Municipality Boxing Tournament organized by Hetauda Municipality.[break]
"The doctor at Neuro Hospital declared him dead at 14:30 today (on Wednesday)," said Deepak Budhamagar, brother of the boxer.
Budhamagar sustained head injury after receiving a punch from Dharan´s opponent, got unconscious soon after that and passed away never opening his eye again.
Budhamagar became the third athlete and second boxer to die in similar incident. About three decades ago, another pugilist had died while undergoing sparring training at Kamalpokhari Boxing Club.
"A boxer had died while undergoing sparring training about 25-26 years ago," said Nepal Boxing Association President Rabiraj Thapa. He failed to recall the name of the boxer. Jigme Gyaljen Lama, 15, was another athlete who died while playing qualifiers of Inter-school Football Tournament on July 5, 2010.
Budhamagar was rushed to a local hospital in Hetauda within 15 minute (at 13:00) of the incident but the doctors referred him to Bharatpur Medical College. "We promptly took Budhamagar to a local hospital in Hetauda after he failed to regain consciousness but the doctors referred him to Bharatpur Medical College, so we took him there," said Deepak Maharjan, the bronze medalist boxer of the 16th Asian Games (Asiad).
It took more than an hour to take Budhamagar to Bharatpur Hospital. Doctor at Bharatpur Medical College said that Budhamagar had subdural hematoma or clotting of blood in the brain.
He was taken to Neuro Hospital in Kathmandu from Bharatpur after the arrival of his parents who reached there around midnight. He was declared dead by the doctors at Neuro hospital on Wednesday.
Budhamagar´s boxing career
Budhamagar, one of the emerging talents of boxing, was the gold medal winner of Harisharan Memorial National Open Boxing Championship held at Bosigaun four months earlier. The bachelor level first-year student of RR College had failed to qualify for 16th Asain Games after he lost to Puran Rai.
"Budhamagar was very laborious player and I had personally trained him at my club in Bosigaun. He had the potential to be a good pugilist in future," said Maharjan.
Cash support for boxer´s family
National Sports Council (NSC) has declared to provide a cash of Rs 50,000 to the deceased boxer´s family and have also decided to pay all the expenses of Neuro Hospital. NSC member Samim Miya Ansari has said that NSC would also take further initiatives to support family and sought support from concerned authorities.
Meanwhile, the tournament organizers in Hetauda have declared to provide Rs 100,000 and Nepal National and International Players Association has decided to provide Rs 50,000 to the boxer´s family, a bulletin issued by the Press and Publicity Section of NSC states.
An account of Budhamagar´s family as told by his brother Deepak
We have a five-member family--father Surya Prakash, mother Jash Maya and three brothers, Rabindra, the eldest, me, and Raju, who was the youngest. We have a small hut built on the land of uncle (phupaju) in Sitapaila. He had called me on Monday and said that he had a headache and was feeling rather dizzy.
I didn´t care much about it as I was busy preparing for my BA second year exam. I feel guilty for not giving proper advice. Had I urged him not to play probably he would have been alive.
The organizers too are responsible for his death. They should have checked players´ health before he appeared for fight. But the organizers did not do so, which could have saved his life.
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