Doctors save speared Indian boy

A six-year-old Indian boy is recovering after doctors removed a two metre (6ft) iron rod that speared his body when he fell from a terrace.

Mehul Kumar was rushed to hospital in the city of Ranchi in Jharkhand after the incident on Wednesday.

Doctors at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences removed the rod in a four-hour operation.

The doctors said he had lost a lot of blood and suffered liver and stomach injuries but "nothing major".

Mehul was playing on the Indian festival of Holi when he fell on the rod in a terrace under construction at his grandparents' home

He was given first aid at a local hospital than transferred to the Rajendra.

A surgeon there, Sandeep Aggarwal, said: "Opening the abdomen, we discovered his liver was injured, the stomach was injured, but thankfully, the spleen and pancreas were safe.

"The child was lucky that he did not suffer any major injury but yes he had substantial injuries."

Dr Aggarwal praised Mehul for his strong willpower.

RIMS director NN Agarwal said: "Mehul will recover fast and properly because he is a child and most of his vital organs are in the process of development.''

Amazingly this is not an isolated incident in India.

Last year, doctors in Delhi removed a 5ft iron rod from the chest of a 22-year-old man after a road accident.

And a 21-year-old construction worker in the western city of Pune had a 6ft rod removed that pierced him from shoulder to thigh via his abdomen.

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