Shivangini Gohai’s surgery successful

NEW DELHI: Shivangini Gohain, the 12-year-old Assam archer who was injured when an arrow shot accidentally during a training session pierced her neck and upper body, underwent a surgery on Friday and a 15-cm part of the metal rod removed from her body.  

A senior doctor at the AIIMS trauma centre said Ms Gohain, who had been brought here from Dibrugarh in Assam on Thursday night, was stable after the very complex surgery.

The arrow had gone through her shoulder bone and damaged part of the neck, vertebra and the left lung. Ms Gohain has now been shifted to the ICU for observation.

“The arrow was touching the vertebral artery which supplies blood to the brain stem. About 15 cm of the arrow was removed from her upper body.  Around 0.5 cm of the arrow was in front of the spinal cord. It was a very complex surgery,” the doctor said.

The operation, which lasted three-and-half hours, was performed by a team led by  Dr Deepak Gupta, professor of neurosurgery at AIIMS. Ms Gohain, who was airlifted from Assam and brought to the AIIMS Trauma Centre around 8 pm, was training at the Dakha

Devi Rasiwasia College at Chabua on Wednesday when the incident took place.

Ms Gohain’s father Brinchi Gohain was outside the practice area. With no official of the college and SAI coming for help, she was taken to Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh, 33 km from Chabua. The SAI said that it will bear all the expenses of her treatment. The Assam Archery Association has contributed `20,000 towards her treatment.