Boy survives after rod pierces him

BANGALORE: Today, 10-year-old Anand is running around MS Ramaiah Hospital like any other child his age, giving his parents and hospital authorities a hard time.
On August 17, he had the most providential of escapes from death. Chasing a pigeon on the roof of a building near his residence in Peenya, Anand fell down and landed on an upright iron rod used to dehusk coconuts.
When people nearby heard his cries and arrived on the scene, they found that the rod had pierced through his stomach and travelled deep into his body.
Anand was rushed to M.S. Ramaiah Hospital with the rod intact in his body.
An x-ray showed that part of the 2-foot rod, while piercing through his diaphragm and chest, had miraculously missed vital organs, stopping one centimetre short of the heart and lungs.
Cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr Nithyananda Shetty conducted a surgery to extricate the rod.
“The most important thing when it comes to the survival of patients in situations like Anand’s is the time taken to shift them to hospital and the understanding that any embedded foreign body should not be disturbed,’’ says Dr Nithyananda Shetty.
If the foreign body is disturbed or removed at the scene of the incident, tremendous blood loss can occur which can be fatal, says Dr Shetty.
In Anand’s case, a local policeman who rushed to the scene advised the parents and relatives against removing the rod and they transported him to hospital immediately.
Anand, who is now up to being his old mischievous self, has recovered completely and is sceptical about whether he wants to continue chasing pigeons.
The rod which inflicted the damage on Anand is now part of Dr Shetty’s collection of foreign body samples he has pulled out of people over the years. Among them are objects as varied as a goat’s eye, swallowed by a youth under the belief that he would gain immense strength, a whistle which was lodged for four years in a boy’s windpipe, dentures, needles, coins and pen caps.