CHENNAI: Seven years ago, 26-year-old Vijayarasu, then in a high school in Dharmapuri district, consumed phenyl after his classmates and seniors urinated on his head after losing to him in a hockey match. To his dismay, he survived and what followed was agonising.
His gullet, trachea and stomach were torn. Doctors inserted a tube down his throat and stomach to help him eat, breathe and live. “We visited five hospitals in different districts to treat him, but his situation continued to become worse. So we finally brought him to Lifeline Hospitals,” said his father M Tamizharasu, who works as a bus conductor in Dharmapuri.
“They came to us one-and-a-half years back for their son’s treatment, but suddenly they disappeared as their second son died. They came to us again two weeks ago and we agreed to treat him,” said Dr J S Rajkumar, chairman and chief surgeon, Lifeline Hospitals, while addressing the media at Taj Coromandel hotel here on Sunday. “We had to go step by step. We took out a portion of his large intestine and converted it into a tube, we pushed it up through his chest and through the stomach and throat to create a new route. It was extremely complicated since if it leaks the boy wouldn’t be able to live.”
Finally after six hours of surgery by a team of seven doctors, Vijayarasu became normal. “He ate bread and banana,” said an emotional Vijaya, his’s mother. “After Vijay became bedridden, our second son, who wanted to become a doctor and treat Vijay, met with an accident and died. We were thinking of committing suicide. But today after seeing him eat, after seven years I am happy,” she said.
“We will now be giving him prosthesis to allow him to speak and lead a normal life,” said Dr Rajkumar.
“I really hope no other child is ragged or humiliated in school or college. The teachers and administrators must be very alert. Nobody should undergo what my son underwent, it’s terrible,” said Tamizharasu.