An eight-year-old boy who spent nearly two years fighting for every breath on a ventilator was finally able to leave Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences (PGIMS) Rohtak on Monday.
Brought to the hospital unconscious at the age of six with high fever and immobile limbs, he survived 23 months of intensive care, supported by doctors and nurses at the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) who refused to give up on him ending the ordeal of his father Sombir Dahiya of Garhi Sisana village in Sonepat district.
He was unconscious, running a high fever and unable to move his limbs. His condition was critical and he required prolonged ventilator support. Nearly two years later, he was discharged after making a significant recovery and can now move his body.
Vice-chancellor Dr. HK Aggarwal, who visited the PICU on Monday to encourage the medical and nursing staff, said the case demonstrated what determination by a patient and sustained efforts by doctors could achieve. “Seeing a critically ill patient recover and return home is the greatest satisfaction for a doctor,” Aggarwal said, praising PICU in-charge Dr. Kundan Mittal and his team for their sustained efforts, as well as the parents for standing by their child throughout the ordeal. Aggarwal said PGIMS remained committed to providing the best possible treatment to patients and that such recoveries strengthened public confidence in the institution.
Dr. Mittal said the child remained on ventilator and 100% oxygen support for about 23 months while receiving continuous medical treatment, physiotherapy and nutritional support.
{{/usCountry}}Dr. Mittal said the child remained on ventilator and 100% oxygen support for about 23 months while receiving continuous medical treatment, physiotherapy and nutritional support.
{{/usCountry}}“The child’s recovery has been deeply moving for the entire medical and nursing team,” he said, adding that his condition was now stable and the family would continue to receive follow-up care.
The prolonged hospitalisation also placed a heavy financial and emotional burden on the family. The child’s father, Sombir Dahiya, a taxi driver in Delhi and the family’s sole breadwinner, had to leave his job to stay with his son. His wife, a homemaker, remained at the hospital by the child’s bedside. Dahiya said he never expected such prolonged and attentive care at a government hospital.
“If he had been treated in a private hospital, I would probably have had to sell everything,” he said. “We cannot repay the doctors here in our lifetime. PGIMS became our second home.”
The child’s discharge turned into an emotional moment for the entire PICU staff as his father thanked the doctors and staff and distributed sweets and cut a cake to express his gratitude.
Nurses said they often brought food from their homes for the child and his family and celebrated his birthday together in the ward.