On May 20, the Fire and Rescue personnel brought to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital a 29-year-old man with an iron grille gate embedded on his back.
Vetrivel, a resident of Nungambakkam, was hurt when he was trying to climb the gate and jump. The gate’s pointed end penetrated the back of his thoracic cavity. It had not caused damage to his heart or large blood vessels. However, one lung was bruised.
“The people who saw him fall called 108, which sent a fire and rescue team. They did a smart job of bringing him to the hospital with the gate stuck to him,” recalled a senior doctor at the hospital.
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Under the guidance of the cardiothoracic unit chief A. Sivaraman, a team of doctors, led by K.S. Saravana Krushna Raja and Sivan, performed the surgery.
The iron grille was removed from the thoracic cavity. The laceration in the lung was repaired. Mr. Vetrivel would be discharged shortly from the hospital, according to a release.