ACCIDENT AND MIRACLES

It was nothing short of a rebirth for assistant foreman P. Rajendra Prasad when doctors at Singareni area hospital in Godavarikhani surgically removed a six-foot thick iron rod that had pierced through his abdomen.

Like on any other day, Rajendra Prasad on June 28 got into a trolley with 60 other Singareni workers to go to 10A underground coal mine for duty. But fate had willed otherwise and the trolley fell with a thud 350 metres down after the ropes supporting it snapped. Two workers died on the spot and an iron rod pierced through Rajendra’s abdomen.

Doctors credit Rajendra for the success of his surgery. The victim was fully awake and aware and even told the doctors that his blood group was A positive. Rarely do doctors come across such people with a strong will power. “It was his will power that saved him,” admits Dr B. Srinivas, one of the surgeons attending him.

“For a moment I thought I would die. But I mustered enough courage and did not give in till I reached the hospital, 20 kms away. My co-workers kept reassuring me to ensure that I do not slip into shock. I felt faint for a few seconds as soon I entered the ambulance but the support I got from my friends and doctors saved me from what would have been an imminent death,” says Rajendra Prasad, who is now recuperating after a four-hour surgical procedure.

Doctors at Singareni hospital had never come across such an accident victim. It was a challenging task for Dr Srinivas and his colleague Dr V. Srikanth as the operation was a tough one. According to Dr Srikanth, 30 cms of the rod was inside the body. There was no damage to vital organs as the rod had slipped through the abdomen, a few cms away from the liver, spleen and intestines.

“The surgery was no miracle, but the way the rod had pierced through his body leaving vital visceral organs untouched is indeed a miracle. Had these organs been injured, there would have been lot of bleeding and complicated things,” says Dr Srikanth.

About a decade ago, an iron rod pierced through a Singareni worker’s head and doctors at the NIMS, Hyderabad, successfully removed it.

But it is no mean task for doctors. The foreign body cannot be removed with force. The area around the rod is cut to remove it. Then the body is cleaned of rust and other particles. In Rajendra’s case, four inches of the body around the rod was surgically cut. “Since it was an iron rod, there’s danger of rust and consequent infection. We cleaned the body and then sutured it,” says Dr Srinivas.

Some recent cases in India

* March, 2010: Doctors at AIIMS, New Delhi, removed an iron rod from an auto driver’s leg in what was termed a rare procedure. The rod pierced through the ankle of 30-year-old Amrik after his auto hit a lorry carrying iron roads.

* February, 2010: A 12-year-old boy from Malegaon survived luckily after a 95 cm rod went through his body, from near the anus to the shoulder, damaging vital visceral organs including the liver. The mishap occurred while Karim Ali was playing at a construction site near his house.

* March, 2009: Mehul Kumar, six, was rushed to a hospital in Ranchi after a six foot long rod speared his body. Doctors removed the rod after four hours of surgery. Luckily the body had no major internal injuries. He had fallen down from the terrace of his house.

* December, 2008: Doctors at a hospital in Pune successfully operated on Santosh Kumar, 21, a construction worker, after a six-foot rod pierced through his shoulder. He had fallen from the 10th floor of an under-construction building. Doctors called it a miracle.