CRPF officer, who was shot 9 times, springs back to life from coma

Doctors said he had shown steely resolve to respond to their intensive medical care that went on for close to about two months.

April 05, 2017 06:45 pm | Updated 07:04 pm IST - New Delhi

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju meets CRPF officer Chetan Cheeta at AIIMS in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju meets CRPF officer Chetan Cheeta at AIIMS in New Delhi on Wednesday.

CRPF Commandant Chetan Cheeta, who slipped into coma after being shot nine times during an gunfight with terrorists in Kashmir, has made a “miraculous” recovery and was discharged from the AIIMS on Wednesday.

Mr. Cheeta was wheeled in on February 14, 2017 at the trauma centre of the premier medical institute after being airlifted from Srinagar. Doctors said he had shown steely resolve to respond to their intensive medical care that went on for close to about two months.

Subodh Kumar, professor of trauma surgery at AIIMS, while announcing the officer's recovery in an interaction with journalists, said it was “nothing short of a miracle”.

“Cheeta was in coma for 16 days and spent a month in the ICU. He was discharged today,” Dr. Amit Gupta, additional medical superintendent at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, said.

Dr. Gupta said the Commanding Officer (CO) of the CRPF’s 45th battalion in Kashmir Valley suffered bullet injuries in his brain, right eye, abdomen, both arms and hand.

According to doctors, the hope of vision returning to Mr. Cheeta’s right eye is “bleak” although his left eye, which was also injured due to splinters, has been restored.

“When he was brought in, he was in coma, had bullet injuries in his head, badly fractured torso and the globe of his eight eye ruptured,” Dr. Gupta said.

Describing the treatment provided to him over the last 45 days, Dr. Subodh said within 24 hours of admission, surgery was conducted to remove a portion of the skull, which had a bullet injury. After that he underwent multiple surgeries.

“Cheeta also developed signs of sepsis due to his wounds, but that was managed by critical care specialists. His wounds were regularly debrided [disinfected],” Dr. Subodh said.

The CO’s wife, Uma Singh, who has been besides her husband since the near fatal encounter, said the journey was not yet over and the final reward for her would be the day when her husband would don his uniform and go to work.

“Doctors would say he was in coma, but whenever I would meet him and hold his hands, he would respond by moving his fingers. That strengthened my faith that he was coming back to me,” she said.

Mr. Cheeta, who hails from Rajasthan, bore the initial brunt of the militant encounter in Hajjan area on February 14, 2017 where a joint team of the Army, the CRPF and the State police had laid siege following intelligence inputs that two foreign terrorists were hiding in the area.

He was initially taken to the base hospital in Srinagar where he was operated upon and given primary treatment after which he was shifted to the AIIMS the same day.

Doctors said he was shifted to ward on March 16, 2017 where he underwent rehabilitation in the form of physiotherapy and speech therapy with a total ICU stay of 30 days.

Subsequently, they said, the wounds were covered with skin grafting by the plastic surgery team.

“His comeback to normal life has shown the true grit of a warrior,” Anurag Srivastava, Chief of AIIMS Trauma Centre, said.

Rajnath hails officer's courage

Home Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter to hail the courage of the officer and said he wanted to see Mr. Cheeta back in action. “Fortune favours the brave. Extremely happy to know that Cheeta has made a miraculous recovery. I thank the team of doctors who have helped Shri Chetan Cheeta in his recovery. Hope to see Cheeta back in action soon,” he said.

His deputy in the Ministry, Kiren Rijiju, visited the officer at the AIIMS. Mr. Rjiju said he was “proud” of the officer.

I feel proud, he says

Mr. Cheeta, in his short comments, said he felt proud when Army chief Gen. Bipin Rawat and Mr. Rijiju visited him during his admission at the hospital here and recognised his contribution.

Mr. Cheeta joined the CRPF in Jaunary 1998.

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