‘The hospital bed is too short for me now!’

“I am dying to go home now and lie on my own bed, the hospital bed is too short,” laughed six-feet-and-two inches tall Adamo Ouattara, 25, who did get home on Monday, 50 days after bring brought to the AIIMS trauma centre with iron rods skewering his arm and chest.

“I am dying to go home now and lie on my own bed, the hospital bed is too short,” laughed six-feet-and-two inches tall Adamo Ouattara, 25, who did get home on Monday, 50 days after bring brought to the AIIMS trauma centre with iron rods skewering his arm and chest.

HT Image

Ivory Coast national Ouattara had an accident at 4 am on April 19 near Sarita Vihar flyover in south Delhi. Two five-feet long iron rods speared his right forearm, pierced his chest and came out of his back, before tearing through the seat and entering the right thigh of his friend, Chieck, 23, sitting in the back seat of the Honda City car Ouattara was driving.

So bad was the accident that doctors needed gas cutters to cut Ouattara loose from the car.

Almost two months later, Ouattara has only good things to say about the surgery and care that saved his life.

“I can say I am an Indian now, because all my blood is Indian,” he joked.

Ouattara had to be given 50 units of blood during the surgery, which meant virtually all the blood inside his body was replaced at the time.

Thanking god for his second life, he vowed to value it. “The accident happened because something was wrong with the way I was driving. I am never going to repeat this mistake.”

Ouattara intends to stay in India to complete his studies. “Accidents do happen, but life doesn't stop. I have to continue complete the remaining two years of my engineering course."