Doctors resort to amputation as blood vessels had been severed
Doctors have had to amputate the left leg of Rajeswari, who came under the wheels of a lorry after her scooter skidded in an accident caused by a leaning AIADMK flagpost in Coimbatore on Monday.
“Doctors at the hospital told us that they will have to remove the leg to prevent the infection from spreading. Left with no choice, we gave our consent. The doctors then removed her left leg, knee downwards, in a surgery that lasted about three hours on Thursday night,” Ms. Rajeswari’s uncle C.R. Sivan told.
Rajeswari was the sole breadwinner of her family. She met with the accident while on her way to work.
As for her right leg, the doctors had operated on it to tend to multiple fractures, and there seemed to be no complications, Mr. Sivan added.
A spokesperson of the hospital said the main artery and other blood vessels in the left leg had been severed in the impact. The hospital continued to monitor Ms. Rajeswari’s progress.
Mr. Sivan said the family had spent nearly ₹7 lakh on treatment so far, whereas the insurance cover was for just ₹ 5 lakh. Strapped for funds, the family was turning to relatives and friends for help. A relative had also sought support online to meet expenses.
Commenting on the development, DMK Singanallur MLA N. Karthik said that the AIADMK government’s silence on the issue only showed how “insensitive and inhumane” it was. “It is not that the government is unaware of the issue. Journalists in Coimbatore had posed a question about the accident to none other than the Chief Minister. My party had also staged a protest on Thursday. Despite the government being aware of the issue, it has done nothing. No official or ruling party member has met the family. This only shows how inhumane the government is,” he said.
Earlier this week, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said he was unaware of the accident. He also said that there was no court order restraining installation of flagposts. A few weeks ago Subasri, a young techie, died in a road accident caused by the fall of a hoarding installed by an AIADMK functionary in Chennai.