Bullet lodged near brain of Yemen citizen removed

New Delhi: Doctors of Fortis Flt Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital removed a bullet, which settled at the junction of the brain and the spine of 20-year-old Mehdhar Naseer.

The bullet entered his neck and got lodged beneath the first cervical vertebra and kept lying between the spinal cord and the vertebra artery. Miraculously, the bullet didn’t damage any part of the neck and brain. However in January, Mr Nasser had started complaining of neck pain.

In January 2015, Naseer suffered the injury when Houthi rebels stormed his house in Yemen and opened fire. “They just entered the house and started shooting,” said Mr Naseer, recovering in room number 213 of the hospital.

“This was one in a billion chance wherein the bullet did not damage the spinal cord or the vertebra artery. It is just like somebody cuts your throat with a sword and you are still alive,” said Dr Sandeep Vaishya, executive director, neurosurgery at Fortis Gurgaon. “While the bullet made a nice round whole in the neck, a little crawl on either side could have either killed him or left him quadriplegic, paralysis of all four limbs,” Dr Vaishya added. “Damage to the vetebra artery could have killed him and if the spinal cord had got damaged he could have become quadriplegic. Fortunately, the bullet kept lying between C1 and C2 and did not rupture or harm him, the delicate position of the bullet makes the case miraculous,” added Dr Vaishya.   

Dr Vaishya, along with his team of doctors, conducted the surgery. “I went to Jordan, Oman, Sudan but none of them agreed on conducting the surgery. They said either I shall die or the surgery will result in paralysis. But then we spoke to the doctors here. Dr Vaishya gave me so much confidence that we decided to go for it,” Naseer said.