Razor blade, paper straw, phone lights: 3 Kerala doctors perform ‘surgery’ on road to save accident victim

KOCHI: In an act resembling a scene from Tamil film ‘Mersal', where actor Vijay rescues a person who was choking, by opening an air duct with a broken credit card and a straw, three doctors came to the rescue of a man who got injured in an accident at Udayamperoor on Sunday night.

It was Dr B Manoop of Govt Medical College, Kottayam; Dr Thomas Peter and Dr Didhiya K Thomas of Indira Gandhi Cooperative Hospital, Ernakulam, who came to the rescue of Linu V B of Kollam, who was struggling to breathe after his two-wheeler collided with another.


"My family, including my doctor wife, and I were travelling in a car in Udayamperoor when we saw a gathering in the middle of the road. We found a man lying unconscious, gasping for breath, with his mouth full of blood, and in a critical condition," Dr Peter said.

He said they found Dr Manoop, assistant professor of cardiology department of Kottayam MCH, holding the injured man safely to prevent any trauma to his spine due to injury.

"After triaging the condition of the injured, we realised that a surgical cricothyrotomy, a medical procedure to create an alternative bypass air pathway, was necessary. His airway was closed with mud, blood, and there was oral fracture. We asked police to ensure no one was recording the surgery on their mobile phones. Police ensured this and asked those present to turn on the flashlights of their mobiles as there were no streetlights. Under the flashlights, we cut open the cricothyroid membrane using a razor blade and inserted a paper straw, arranged by someone," he said.

After some time, he started gasping again as the straw got wet and we replaced it with another one. Later, someone got a Frooti straw, and we inserted it. His condition stabilised, and we shifted him to a hospital," Dr Peter said. Hospital sources said the condition of Linu continues to be critical.



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