The rod missed his heart, spinal cord by millimetres

It took a four-hour surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ (AIIMS) to save footballer Adamo Ouattara, 25, from Ivory Coast (Africa) whose car hit a truck carrying iron rods on Monday morning.

It took a four-hour surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ (AIIMS) to save footballer Adamo Ouattara, 25, from Ivory Coast (Africa) whose car hit a truck carrying iron rods on Monday morning.

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Two iron rods — five feet tall, weighing 15 kg each with 1.5 inches diameter — smashed the windscreen of the Honda City car Outtara was driving. One skewered his upper body before piercing the right thigh of Cheick, 23, in the back seat.

The police in the Police Control Room (PCR) vans decided to bring both victims to the hospital with the car itself. “The advantage of this wisdom was that there was less blood loss, which could have otherwise made the situation worse,” said Dr M.C. Misra, chief AIIMS Trauma centre.

The biggest challenge for doctors was to assess the extent of injuries without a proper investigation report. “There was no time for tests before the surgery,” said Dr Amit Gupta, a surgeon who operated upon Ouattara.