Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Man saved from rods of death

G
UWAHATI: For about two hours, Kamal Kalita remained suspended in mid-air, speared by three iron rods that had pierced his abdomen and passed
through his liver, stomach and lung. His cries for help were muffled by the pre-dawn darkness. When a rescue team finally brought the 22-year-old construction worker to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here, even doctors were shocked.

"Not always do we receive cases like Kalita's. While one rod passed through his liver, stomach, diaphragm and left lung touching the heart, the other two penetrated through his abdominal cavity, damaging the intestines. Had the rod hit his heart or any major blood vessel directly, it would have been difficult to save him," said A J Rai Baruah, assistant professor of the cardiothoracic surgery department of GMCH.

It was in the early hours of September 17, the day of Vishwakarma Puja, that Kalita slipped from the roof of a two-storeyed building and fell straight onto the three iron rods protruding from a nearby wall in the city's Sixmile area. Since it was still dark, his cries for help went unheard for a long time. Eventually, his neighbour heard him and rushed out for help. On contacting the Emergency 108, a service team reached the spot and transported Kalita to GMCH with the rods still attached to him.

Baruah and L C Choudhury jointly led the team which included fellow doctors S K Jain, Deepak Choudhury, Keshav Kumar, P Saikia, J Padun and T Rajkhowa. They performed a complicated, three hour-long surgery which miraculously saved Kalita's life.

"I stood struck to the rods for more than one and a half hours. I feel lucky to have survived. Though I had some problems after the operation, I feel much better now and can eat and walk around slowly," said Kalita, almost fit to return home.

Since the rescue team did not try to extract the rods before bringing him to hospital did a world of good. "Had anybody tried to pull out the rods before bringing him to hospital, excessive bleeding in the wounded areas would have proved fatal. In any case, the patient was in a state of shock when the rescur team brought him in. Fortunately, efforts of our medical team, together with Kalita's will to survive, have ensured his speedy recovery. His condition is stable now and we will discharge him in a few days," said Deepak Choudhury.

L C Choudhury, professor of surgery department of GMCH, also said Kalita was out of danger. "Despite the rods causing serious damage to some of his vital organs, Kalita is recuperating well. He will also face no serious complications in future and will be able to regain his strength and resume normal activities in a year's time," he said.

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