Impaled by rod, narrow escape for migrant worker

Dr Minakshi Sharma, who had performed the surgery, said she had never seen such case in her 16-year career. The two-and-half-hour operation at Gurgaon8217;s Paras Hospital was the hardest one the team had undertaken till date.

8220;The patient was brought to us around 2:30 am,8221; said Dr Sharma, 8220;the 2-metre long, 6 mm thick rod entered the right side of neck and pierced the tongue, the floor of mouth before emerging from near the left eye.8221; It narrowly missed the trachea, left eye, brain and the arteries near the mouth.

8220;Our first job was to clear the airway so he could breathe. I could not believe that there were no major vascular injuries. Had the rod touched the trachea, it would have been difficult to save him. Now he is stable. But his tongue is damaged, so we have to feed him through a tube,8221; Sharma said.

The doctor praised the good sense of the people who had brought him to the hospital. 8220;No one touched the rod. If they did, it would have led to heavy bleeding,8221; she said.