Doctors at Fortis Hospital Shalimar Bagh have managed to save a 14-year-old boy after he impaled his face on a fence while playing in a park.
Saksham Gadia, a Class IX student, is now on the road to recovery after a complex surgery by a team of doctors here on November 26, the day of the accident.
According to Richie Gupta, senior consultant, Department of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Saksham lost his footing as he was jumping over a fence in the local park at Paschim Vihar to chase a ball. He landed head first on the grill, which pierced him below the right jaw, breaking the bone.
Pulled off the grill
The impact resulted in impalement of the neck and face on the grill. He was stuck in this position, with the grill having pierced his mouth from the neck and breaking his jaw.
He was pulled off the grill, causing profuse bleeding. He was rushed to a nearby nursing home, where he was administered pressure dressing as first aid to contain the bleeding. He was then referred to Fortis. When he arrived at the hospital’s emergency unit, he was conscious but bleeding profusely from the jaw.
“His jaw was fractured with displacement at both ends. He also was bleeding profusely from the neck and mouth,” said Rajat Gupta, the associate consultant with the Department, who was the first to receive the patient.
“Had the grill pierced him a few cm on the either side of the affected area, it could have been fatal. Also, the fact that his neck and face were yanked out of the grill could have led to profuse bleeding and caused an immediate threat to his life,” he said, adding that “for the safety of the patient, it is important that the metal part of the fence is left as it is and is cut externally to rescue and mobilise the individual into an emergency.”
“I was away at work when I got a call from my brother-in-law that Saksham had been rushed to the hospital,” recalls his mother Jiji Gadia, who added that public awareness was important in cases where individuals get trapped in precarious and rather life-threatening situations and are unsure what to do.
