Mumbai:
For days now, Brijesh Sahani's parents have been praying for a miracle, and it seems their prayers have been answered. Doctors at the Karuna Hospital in Borivli told mid-day yesterday that the 16-year-old cricketer, who survived an arrow penetrating his brain, might lead a very normal life if the meningitis infection, caused by the incursion of the metal arrow, is contained.
Miraculously, the arrow, which struck him when he was playing cricket at a Dahisar ground on January 16, has apparently not damaged even a single blood vessel and passed through the brain fibres without harming any nerve in a way that could lead to any major permanent complication.
"I've been a neurosurgeon for more than two decades and had never seen a case like this, where the only complication caused by a metal object piercing the entire brain through and through is just the infection," said Dr Vinod Rambal, the neurosurgeon who has been treating Sahani. Doctors said the teenager also has a temporary speech impairment, which may have been caused by shock.
Rambal said that the arrow made an incursion of around 6.5 mm circumference inside the parietal part of the brain. "The arrow entered from the temporoparietal region on the left side of the head transventriculated oblically and came out from the frontoparietal area on the right side. Surprisingly, without harming a single nerve," he said.
Doctors said that in most cases, such penetrations would leave one with a defective sensory area for navigation, sense of touch and speech mechanism. However, in Sahani's case, the arrow, which remained inside his head for more than two hours, didn't damage a single nerve that could cause any complications in the future.
"Our only concern is the meningitis infection, which has been our worry from the very first day. Any foreign particle that carries bacteria can cause infection, which could be fatal. We have kept him on antibiotics and sent his cerebrospinal fluid for testing to find out the gravity of the infection," said a doctor from Karuna. "The boy also has a temporary speech impairment which may have been caused by shock. The exact cause will be revealed by an MRI," he added.