New Delhi:
An 11-year-old boy, who underwent a surgery at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) for removal of an eight cm-long wooden splinter that remained pierced through his left eye for two years, may feature in the world-famous 'Ripley's Believe It or Not', which covers bizarre events from across continents.
On April 29, doctors at the AIIMS successfully removed the wooden splinter that had pierced into the eye and the brain of Varun (name changed), who carried it for two years and miraculously did not develop any infection.
"It is an extremely unusual case. This child carried this wooden piece for two long years with practically no side effects. In the surgery we extracted the wooden piece that was as long as the middle finger. It was sticking out from between the upper portion of the left eyeball and the skull," Dr P Sarat Chandra, associate professor, Neurosurgery, AIIMS said.
He said, "Today he has been discharged and yesterday we received a mail from Edward T Meyer, the Vice President of Exhibits and Archives for Ripley Entertainment asking us to give them access to photos or X-rays of this boy.
"They want to use the visuals in their next book, and possibly in a Ripley museum as well."
A resident of Jammu, Varun had lost sight in the left eye after the thick wood entered between the eye and skull and pierced through the brain, when he fell face forwards on it.
He was taken to a local hospital where doctors removed the superficial portion, leaving the longer part inside the brain, Chandra said.
"For two years his mother went everywhere for treatment but none dared to touch the foreign body inside the eye until an election official advised him to come to us," he said.
Doctors say his case is nothing but a miracle.
"All the major areas in the brain were affected by the splinter, but there were no complications. It is surprising that he didn't develop an infection over the past two years.
And he is very lucky that there was no major damage to the brain," Dr A K Mahapatra, head of the department of neurosurgery, AIIMS, said.