‘I thought I would die’: Ambernath worker survives seven-storey fall with rod through abdomen

Scans show a rod entered via China Kumar’s left buttock and exited from the abdominal wall. PICS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

I still cannot believe I am alive. I fell from such a height, and a rod went through my body. I thought I would die," said 33-year-old construction worker, China Kumar, who survived a rare and life-threatening impalement after falling nearly seven storeys at a construction site in Ambernath, Thane.

A metal reinforcement rod entered through his left buttock, passed through his pelvis and lower abdomen and exited through the front abdominal wall. He also suffered an open fracture of the left femur, extensive soft-tissue damage, and haemorrhagic shock.

At Fortis Hospital, Kalyan, doctors activated the polytrauma protocol and rushed him to surgery as his blood pressure remained critically low despite fluids and blood transfusions.

The team of doctors told mid-day that it was a highly difficult situation to manage. Dr Tejas Savdekar, consultant, general surgery, said, "The rod was passing through the abdominal cavity, and we couldn't remove it without knowing what structures were around it. With his blood pressure critically low, we couldn't wait for the formal CT report - we reviewed the films for a rough sense of the trajectory and moved straight to the OT. The six of us carefully lifted him onto the edge of the table using a bedsheet, and he was intubated by Dr Atul Valzade [head of anaesthesia department] in that position. He was propped on bolsters, leaving a gap under the left buttock so the rod stayed suspended without pressure, while the orthopaedic team secured his injured thigh."

He added, "Given the heavy concrete-dust contamination, we thoroughly washed and prepped the area before making the incision. The rod had pierced the small intestine at multiple points and passed through the iliac bone, coming extremely close to the ureter and the major vessels supplying the left leg. The most critical part was extracting the rod safely; we carefully freed the bowel and dissected around it to protect the ureter and vessels before pulling it out."

Dr Sudhir Gore, head, emergency medicine, said, "Patients with this degree of trauma can deteriorate rapidly, even when they initially appear relatively stable. With nearly 20-25 cm of rod projecting from his body, the patient couldn't be turned, examined fully, or fit into the CT scanner. Our team brought in a metal grinder and, with the patient mildly sedated and carefully supported, cut roughly seven inches off the rod, before moving him to the OT." "I am grateful to the doctors. I feel lucky to have survived," added Kumar.