Shot J&K cop lives at All India Institute of Medical Sciences

NEW DELHI: The bullets dug open his belly from close quarters but Zubair Ahmed (name changed) did not die. Three days later, when the Jammu & Kashmir police constable was brought to AIIMS from Udhampur, his insides were still bleeding, life was slipping away, but he remained conscious. And now, four months later, as he prepares to get back to work, Ahmed can look back with awe upon the miracle that he has lived and witnessed.
Ahmed was wounded in a terrorist ambush in Udhampur district on January 7.
"Infiltrators ambushed the police van he was travelling in and fired indiscriminately. While the driver of the vehicle and the others managed to escape with minor injuries, the 27-year-old constable was mutilated with bullets from a very close range of 10-12 metres. He went into shock and was bleeding profusely," said Dr MC Misra, chief of the AIIMS Trauma Centre.
Surgeons at the base hospital operated on Ahmed four times in 48 hours to close the ruptured blood vessels and other organs. But when he continued bleeding, they packed his abdomen and shifted him to the trauma centre in Delhi, where he underwent eight surgeries to control bleeding from the lacerated chest and abdomen.
"The patient was shifted to our hospital on January 10. His abdomen looked like a dug up area covered with sponges and white plastic. It was a horrific sight. He was conscious, though. We removed the pack meant to soak the blood. After managing the patient, we conducted vacuum assisted closure (VAC) therapy for healing of the wounds. He had developed septicemia and jaundice while being treated and we had almost lost all hope to save him. His survival is nothing short of a miracle," said a member of the surgical %faculty who operated on the patient.
Doctors at the hospital said Ahmed is out of danger now. "We have covered the abdomen by skin grafting using the thigh muscles. He is allowed to eat and can walk on his own. In the last two months since he was discharged from the hospital, he has gained close to 20kg," said a senior doctor.
Ahmed says he is happy. "I was staring at death every minute. The doctors saved me. I am planning to join work next month."