Iraqi accident victim gets new lease of life in India

GURGAON - For 23-year-old Dler Asaad, an Iraqi garage worker critically injured in a car crash, life in the last four years had been a journey of failed attempts at recovering - until he came to India.

“Earlier I underwent 17 operations - on my brain, eyes and 11 of them on my trachea,” said Asaad, sporting a broad smile as he recovers after a successful surgery at the Artemis Health Institute in Gurgaon bordering Delhi.

In 2006, Asaad met with a near fatal car accident. He was kept on the ventilator for 20 days. The holes made for ventilator support created two abnormal cavities in his trachea and this led to complications like food getting into the windpipe and choking him. The trachea is a tube-like portion of the breathing or respiratory tract that connects the voice box with the bronchial part of the lungs.

Though the surgeries - in Iraq as well as other countries - on his brain and eyes were successful after a few attempts, the severe condition of the trachea made him disillusioned.

“I went to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and got my surgeries done there. But all of them were failed attempts. I was losing hope,” Asaad, clad in an orange T-shirt and blue track pants, told IANS in an interview.

With every unsuccessful surgery his condition worsened, as 11 operations in the same area added to complications.

And then he came to India.

A team of doctors headed by Kushagra Katariya, CEO and chief cardiothoracic surgeon, and including Deepak Sarin, consultant on head and neck surgery, and Hassan Tehrani, head of medical services, from the Artemis Health Institute, conducted the operation last month.

“This was my last-ditch effort; I knew a person who was treated by doctor Tehrani and he told me to give my last shot here. When I spoke to Tehrani, he told me that in this condition I have a 90 percent chance of successful surgery. This was more than enough for me to undertake this long journey to India,” Asaad said.

Showing the deep hole on his stomach, Asaad said: “Now I can eat from my mouth.”

He now plans to buy T-shirts as in the last four years he wore only high necks. “People kept asking me about these scars and the holes on my throat. Now I can walk freely,” Asaad told IANS.

Asaad’s mother too is thanking the almighty for his recovery.

“I am happy now my son can eat properly; in these last four years the food used to go through a pipe attached directly to his stomach, now he can eat properly,” she added

Katariya said: “It was a four-hour-long surgery; we were confident and clear about what needed to be done. Though it was an unusual case we have treated similar cases before. We are glad that he can now lead a healthy life.”

Sarin said: “The structure of Asaad’s neck was completely distorted due to the failed surgeries earlier. The rarity of the case was due to the two abnormal openings in the throat region. The surgery was a challenge, but we were confident.”

Asaad, who was discharged from hospital a few days back, did not like the guest house he was given and decided to come back to stay at the hospital.

“The doctors here are very nice; everybody is concerned about me,” Asaad further added.

He stated that he has only happy memories of India. Preparing to leave for his country, he said he will be back in another six months.

(Sugandha Pathak can be contacted at sugandha.p@ians.in)