Nineteen-year-old Ajay Kumar did not even in his wildest dreams imagine that his hand will be complete in one piece again after the palm was severed completely a little above the wrist.
But now, after one and a half years, it is back to normal. The sensation has returned and he is able to use his hand normally.
On that fateful day, K. Ajay Kumar was working in an offset press near the Satyanarayana Swamy Temple in Vijayawada. His hand got cut into two piece by a huge mechanical blade used for cutting paper.
"I wrapped my hand in a cloth and ran to Meher Hospital which is about a kilometer away. Later my hand was brought in a polythene bag," he said about the heroic effort he made.
Fortunately for Ajay Kumar the Hospital to which he came was headed by spine and joint surgeon R. Meher Prasanna, while his wife Rajini Mutyala, a professor in pathology, run the hospital jointly.
"Not thinking of the cost involved I put a team together and we sewed that the hand together. There are 34 different entities like blood vessels, muscles and nerves that had to connected surgically," Dr. Meher Prasanna said.
The real miracle is the two major nerves - the median and the ulnar nerves - are also healing and getting connected. Nerves once damaged remain damaged for ever. "It is a surprise for us too," said the orthopedic surgeon.
But, the efforts of the patient and the doctors seems to have paid off. The doctor couple waited for one-and-half years before making public the success in this particular case of "re-implantation".
Ajay Kumar, the son of a watchman, dropped out of school after his eighth standard because his family needed him to work. Today he is employed in a petrol bunk and is going about his normal life putting behind all the horrifying experiences he had.
