Knife removed from Dilay's body

Darjeeling : A team of six doctors today operated on Dilay Rai to retrieve the four-inch long knife blade embedded in his body for the past 26 years.

The operation was conducted for over two hours at Planter’s Hospital here though the doctors were from several hospitals.

An X-ray on Monday had revealed the existence of the knife. Rai, a dafadar (supervisor) at Orange Valley Tea Estate, had come to the hospital complaining of a pain in the chest area. The 55-year-old had then said a fellow villager had stabbed him 26 years ago and the knife had stayed inside.

“The operation was difficult as the entry point of the knife had been blocked. Two ribs had to be cut and the operation was dangerous as there could have been a respiratory failure or even a massive haemorrhage,” said Dr Debabrata Das from Darjeeling Sadar Hospital.

The knife has partially damaged the lower portion of Rai’s right lung and doctors said they are amazed as to how the garden worker went about his normal activity with the blade in his body.

Despite the hospital lacking specialised equipment, the doctors agreed to risk the operation to spare Rai the discomfort and expense.

“Operations like this are usually conducted in special cardio-thoracic unit. Here, we neither have a ventilator nor facilities for a CT scan,” said Dr P.D. Bhutia (Planter’s).

There was not even a constant X-ray monitoring machine. The team had to do with a borrowed portable one.

“Given the circumstances under which we operated him, we are relieved that it is finally over. In fact the moment the knife was retrieved, the entire team broke into a spontaneous applause inside the OT,” said Dr Bhutia.

Ever since the news of Rai’s condition was published, people from all walks had contributed for the operation.

While Upper Club Side Vehicles Owners’ Association gave Rs 2,000 to take care of Rai’s medicine, the Risheehat-Bloomfield Medical Cell — a voluntarily organisation — is trying to collect money to cover his other expenses.

The Planter’s has waived charges for bed and the various tests that were conducted before the operation.

Source: The Telegraph

Armed with a knife inside his own body for 26 years

Darjeeling : For the past 26 years, Dilay Rai has been living with a four-inch-long knife-blade embedded in his body.

Doctors at the Darjeeling Dooars and Medical Association, known as the Planter’s Hospital, were amazed when they did an X-ray on Rai today. The dafadar (supervisor) from Orange Valley Tea Estate had come to the hospital complaining of a pain in his chest area.

“The X-ray plate showed a four-inch-long knife-blade just above his lever. We don’t know how he could lead a normal life for so long,” said P.D. Rai, a doctor at the hospital.

The news, however, did not surprise Rai in the least.

“Around 26 years ago, I had tried to intervene when two of my fellow villagers at Orange Valley got into a scuffle. It was then that one of them stabbed me on the back and the blade has been embedded ever since,” said Rai.

It appears that at the time of impact, the handle of the weapon broke off.

The 55-year-old maintained that he knows the man who stabbed him but refused to disclose his name. He said he had started experiencing some pain three years after the incident. “The doctors had then told me that the knife was still there but they did not dare to operate because it was buried deep inside. So I have been living with it,” he added.

All that may change soon though.

“Dr D.B. Das from Siliguri has decided to take up the challenge. We will operate on Rai day after tomorrow if all other things are fine,” said Bhutia. He added that they would try to remove the blade from the front, because it seems to have travelled inside Rai’s torso and is currently lodged under his ribcage.

Since, Rai comes from an economically weak background, Bhutia has decided to conduct all the tests at the hospital for free. “However, we have to bring Dr Das from Siliguri and pay his fees, which will come to about Rs 25,000. So we have decided to collect donations,” he said.

For Rai, it could mean an end to years of discomfort. “At times, when I lift heavy objects I feel the knife moving,” he said with a smile. “Fortunately, being a dafadar, I do not have to do physically taxing work.”

The doctor at the Planter’s Hospital, however, still cannot believe that Rai has led a more or less normal life for the past 26 years with a knife lodged inside him.

“We can understand a person moving around with a bullet inside him, because when it is fired it is so hot that it does not cause infection after it enters someone’s body. However, one needs to have immense luck to survive when it is a knife, which has a high probability of being infected. After all, it is a foreign body,” Bhutia told.

Source: The Telegraph