Doctors at the Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children have given a new lease on life to an 8-year-old, after a snake bite on his hand led to an infection and caused a deformity in it. But, doctors at the Wadia Hospital managed to save his hand with a rare microvascular surgery.

Snake bite causes infection
The boy, Talha Shaikh, was playing in his house in a village in Nanded, when he reached behind a cupboard to fetch a toy, when a snake bit him. He was immediately taken to a local doctor who treated him with an anti-venom injection. A few days later, it was noticed that the affected (left) hand was swollen due to cellulitis (a skin infection). When local doctors suggested an amputation, he was brought to a government hospital in Mumbai. The hand was saved here, but it did not heal. No primary wound cover was provided and he developed a severe contracture and deformity in the left wrist and hand. His parents then took him to the Wadia Hospital at Parel, to see if his hand could function again.