NEW DELHI: It's a story of rare courage and conviction. A doctor who met with an accident on the Yamuna Expressway recently leading to one of his arms getting severed not just managed to survive but preserved the limb so that it could be rejoined successfully.
The incident took place on Sunday around 1.30pm. Dr Mahender Narain Singh, a nephrologist at Pushpanjali Hospital in Gurgaon, and his father were on their way back from Tundla, Uttar Pradesh. Singh stopped on the Yamuna expressway to fetch a water bottle lying on the rear seat when a speeding vehicle hit him from behind.
The 32-year-old said it happened in a flash of seconds. "The speeding car came from behind, hit me and the next moment I see myself bleeding heavily from the arms. The right arm was torn apart and lying 50 meters away," he said.
The doctor, however, remained calm and asked his father to wrap a cloth on the injured portion of the arm to check bleeding. Meanwhile, an ambulance arrived on the spot. "Having assisted in kidney transplants, I knew that the amputated limb has to be preserved properly for re-plantation. So I collected the limb and got it packed in an ice-bag at Kailash hospital where I was taken first. The doctors there put dressing to check blood loss, cleaned the wound and administered intravenous fluid which helped me maintain my consciousness. We rushed to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for a reconstructive surgery after that," Singh said.
The re-plantation of amputated limb, which involves joining the slender arteries, veins and functional nerves, had to be conducted within four hours for better results, said doctors at SGRH.
According to Dr Mahesh Mangal, chairman of the department of plastic and cosmetic surgery at the hospital, delay in re-plantation could cause death due to reperfusion injury ie, tissue damage caused when blood supply returns after a period of ischemia or lack of oxygen.
"We had readied the operation theatre even before the patient arrived. Two teams worked separately on the amputated part and the cut stump on the arm respectively to dissect out blood vessels and nerves under the microscope before connecting them to restore blood circulation," said Mangal.
The doctor added that the surgery was conducted successfully in four hours.
The incident took place on Sunday around 1.30pm. Dr Mahender Narain Singh, a nephrologist at Pushpanjali Hospital in Gurgaon, and his father were on their way back from Tundla, Uttar Pradesh. Singh stopped on the Yamuna expressway to fetch a water bottle lying on the rear seat when a speeding vehicle hit him from behind.
The 32-year-old said it happened in a flash of seconds. "The speeding car came from behind, hit me and the next moment I see myself bleeding heavily from the arms. The right arm was torn apart and lying 50 meters away," he said.
The doctor, however, remained calm and asked his father to wrap a cloth on the injured portion of the arm to check bleeding. Meanwhile, an ambulance arrived on the spot. "Having assisted in kidney transplants, I knew that the amputated limb has to be preserved properly for re-plantation. So I collected the limb and got it packed in an ice-bag at Kailash hospital where I was taken first. The doctors there put dressing to check blood loss, cleaned the wound and administered intravenous fluid which helped me maintain my consciousness. We rushed to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for a reconstructive surgery after that," Singh said.
The re-plantation of amputated limb, which involves joining the slender arteries, veins and functional nerves, had to be conducted within four hours for better results, said doctors at SGRH.
According to Dr Mahesh Mangal, chairman of the department of plastic and cosmetic surgery at the hospital, delay in re-plantation could cause death due to reperfusion injury ie, tissue damage caused when blood supply returns after a period of ischemia or lack of oxygen.
"We had readied the operation theatre even before the patient arrived. Two teams worked separately on the amputated part and the cut stump on the arm respectively to dissect out blood vessels and nerves under the microscope before connecting them to restore blood circulation," said Mangal.
The doctor added that the surgery was conducted successfully in four hours.
