A 12-year-old Indian boy has made an astounding recovery despite being impaled by a four-foot-long branch that pierced his chest and came out through his neck.
Bishnu Mahakud miraculously survived the gruesome injury, which occurred when he accidentally fell off a blackberry tree while plucking berries in Dhangadadiha village, Keonjhar on the Bay of Bengal.
The lengthy branch pierced through his chest and came out of his neck in a graphic ordeal that was caught on camera.
Bishnu Mahakud, 12, from Dhangadadiha village, Keonjhar, India, was impaled with a four-foot-long tree branch, which went through his chest and out through his neck
Awaiting surgery: The branch pierced the chest of the teenager after he fell off a blackberry tree while plucking the berries
Recovering after a three-hour-long operation. Medical staff said it was fortunate the impaling had not had a more ‘severe’ impact
Bishnu was immediately rushed to a community health centre by locals in a desperate bid to save his life.
However, when the doctors failed to remove the branch stuck in his body, the boy was transferred in a critical condition to Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, 120 miles away from his village, for surgery.
The branch that impaled him
A team of five doctors led by Dr Manoj Kumar Patnaik immediately gave the boy a CT scan and several medical tests before performing a three-hour-long surgery to safely remove the tree branch from Bishnu’s body.
Dr Manoj, who operated on the boy, said: ‘The patient was brought to the hospital in a critical condition.
‘The tree branch has pierced through the left of his chest and came out of the neck.
‘We immediately conducted a CT Scan to find out what all parts were affected. Luckily there was no such severity.
‘The boy underwent a three-hour-long surgery during which the tree branch was successfully removed from his body.’
Out of danger: Bishnu Mahakud will be kept in the hospital for few more days to avoid any chances of infection
After the operation, Bishnu was kept in intensive care unit for 72 hours and has been shifted to the general ward, as his condition has improved.
Dr Manoj said the boy is ‘completely out of danger’, however, ‘we will keep him in the hospital for few more days to avoid any chances of infection’.