Dr Praveen Siddharth joined the hospital just two months back. But he’s already called as someone who has performed a “miracle.”
The reason was a 14 year old unidentified boy who was brought to the Sadar Hospital in Jharkhand over the weekend. The boy had near-zero pulse rate and grave external injuries. Dr. Siddharth, along with his fellow doctors not only donated blood to the teen, they also arranged for CT scan and even facilities and medicines that weren’t available in the hospital. They fed him and conducted a complicated surgery at their own risk.
“My son was dead. He was brought back to life by doctors and people of Daltonganj,” said Rishi Kapoor , an auto-rickshaw driver who is the boy’s father. The teen- Sahil, was taken home late Monday night.
Apparently, he fell off a moving train
Once the boy was brought in, Dr. Siddharth tagged in a tweet on the boy, the PMO handle. This activated the local media and the government. Sahil had left home on April 10. On April 13, the railway police brought the boy to the Sadar hospital. His left leg was almost chopped off, bones on the left elbow were crushed and deep abrasions were all over his body.
Suhail had sustained severe head injuries. He had virtually no pulse. The injuries were caused apparently by falling off a speeding train near the Daltonganj railway station.
According to Dr Kalanand Mishra, the boy needed immediate blood. Since the hospital’s blood bank didn’t have the group needed, one of the staff members- Abhisek Komal donated. But that wasn’t enough. So, a doctor from another hospital- Sushil Kumar Pandey volunteered, as did others.
“I was now responsible for this one life. It was a human reaction— and as we took active interest all our staff joined in,” Dr Pandey.
The doctors then focused on his almost-severed leg.
“People advised me against any surgery, as the patient’s relatives were not there,” Dr Siddharth said, “but I realized that if the infected parts were not removed, the leg would turn septic. And that could have proven fatal. On April 15, I decided to go ahead with the operation. My seniors and colleagues cooperated.”
The surgery, as per the doctor was a huge risk.
“This led to further loss of blood, which was natural. I waited until evening, and when the blood bank could not arrange, it was my turn to donate blood,” Dr Siddharth said.
“People should believe in doctors”
Recalling the recent incident in Maharashtra when a doctor-friend was gravely injured by patient’s kin, Dr Siddhart said, , “My humble request is that people should believe in doctors.”
As for Sahil’s father, he said, “I will never be able to return the debt.”
The story of the doctors’ great humanity has been covered and appreciated by multiple media channels including the Indian Express.
Image credits: indianexpress.com