A seven-year-old girl who suffered critical injuries in most of her organs after a truck hit her near her school in Howrah’s Andul on February 10 and had to undergo eight surgeries is now slowly able to sit up and move her neck, doctors at a hospital in Howrah said.
Rukmini Roy, who has just been promoted to Class I, was on ventilator support for two weeks and had to remain in the hospital for 45 days before being discharged.
A doctor who treated her said Rukmini had suffered devastating injuries.
“There were critical injuries in the big organs. There was injury in her lungs, the muscle and tissues had been declubbed from the femur bone, there were fractures in the pelvic bone, the urethra had cut and there was huge amount of blood clot in her abdomen,” said Shubhadeep Das, clinical lead and senior consultant of paediatric critical care at Narayana Hospital, Howrah.
“Rukmini’s grandfather had gone to her school to bring her home. Both were sitting on a two-wheeler while Rukmini was taking off her sweater, when a truck hit the two-wheeler. Her grandfather sustained a fracture in the right leg, while Rukmini’s injuries were worse,” said Ayan Roy, Rukmini’s father.
The girl’s blood pressure and pulse were nearly absent when she was brought to the hospital.
“Her heart was not able to pump blood because of the blood clot in the abdomen. We had to decide on conducting a surgery to remove the clot. Usually, a surgeon would not want to perform a surgery with such a low blood pressure, but in this case, it was a conscious decision to do so because of her condition,” said Das.
A multi-disciplinary team treated Rukmini during her stay in the hospital. Other than Das, Gautam Chakraborty, consultant paediatric and neonatal surgery; Atul Srivastava, consultant, orthopaedics and joint replacement surgery; and Aditya Kanoi, consultant, plastic surgery, were on the team.
Her father said Rukmini can sit up and move her neck. “Doctors said she will be able to walk in a couple of months,” said Ayan.