A Kovai hospital has become the saviour for Velusamy who migrated from Kallakuruchi in Tamil Nadu to Iraq in search of a job and then came home with severe stab wounds in his abdomen.

At least two surgeries — one in Iraq and the other in Dubai — failed, following which Velusamy was brought to KG hospital in Kovai where a marathon surgery saved his life.

Velusami had migrated to Iraq two years ago and was employed in an ice factory. However, he was asked to leave the country reportedly because of disturbances in the region and was accommodated in a shed with several others until formalities were fulfilled for him to fly back.

One night, Velusamy was reportedly stabbed by an unknown person and the intestines, liver and gall bladder were exposed.

He was rushed to a local hospital in Iraq where he was operated upon but passed into coma. The Iraq government airlifted him to a hospital in Dubai but the surgery there also did not prove successful.

Velusamy was then brought to KG Hospital in an air ambulance in a comatose condition with multiple organ failure and on artificial ventilation, according to the chairman of the hospital, Dr G. Baktavatsalam.

Dr. V.P. Shanmugasundaram, chief general surgeon and advanced laparoscopic surgeon, said the patient’s nutritional status was improved by feeding him with 3,000 calories for nearly 15 days.

Then a six-hour operation was performed to bring skin muscles to normalcy. Dead tissues were removed and the abdomen was washed using 30 litres of saline.

The marathon operation involved putting back all the organs that had come out of the abdomen and making them functional.

A week after the surgery, Veluswamy regained consciousness and recognised his family members.
Now, a month later, he is able to walk slowly and eat normal food, Dr Shanmugasundaram said.