Shot 9 times, Chetan Cheetah out of coma

New Delhi: A senior CRPF official, Chetan Cheetah, who showed remarkable courage despite being shot nine times during an encounter with militants in Kashmir, made a miraculous recovery and was finally discharged from AIIMS on Wednesday nearly two-months after he was admitted in a critical condition.

Lauding Cheetah’s courage, home minister Rajnath Singh said he wanted to see the officer back in action. “Fortune favours the brave. Extremely happy to know that Cheetah has made a miraculous recovery. I thank the team of doctors who have helped Chetan Cheetah in his recovery. Hope to see Cheetah back in action soon,’’ Mr Singh said on Twitter.

Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju,  who visited the CRPF commander at AIIMS Tauma Centre said he was proud of the exemplary courage shown by the officer. Cheetah said he felt proud about his contribution being recognised, and thanked both Mr Rijiju and the army chief general Bipin Rawat who visited him in the hospital.

Cheetah was admitted to AIIMS on Feb 14 after being airlifted from Srinagar in an extremely critical condition. Doctors attending to the officer said he displayed steely resolve while responding to the treatment.

Prof. Subodh Kumar of trauma surgery at AIIMS described the recovery as “nothing short of a miracle.” Amit Gupta, Additional Medical Superintendent at the AIIMS Trauma Centre said, “Cheetah was in coma for 16 days and spent a month in the ICU. He is fit to be discharged now.’’

Cheetah, who was heading CRPF’s 45th battalion in Kashmir Valley sustained bullet injuries in his brain, right eye, abdomen, both the arms, left hand and in the buttock region.

“When he was brought in, he was in coma, had bullet injuries in his head, badly fractured torso and the globe of his eight eye had ruptured,’’ Mr Gupta said.

“Within 24 hours of admission, surgery was conducted to remove a portion of the skull which had suffered the bullet injury to reduce intra-cranial pressure. After that he underwent multiple surgeries. Cheetah also developed signs of sepsis due to his wounds which was managed by critical care specialists in ICU. His wounds were regularly debrided,” Mr Subodh Kumar said.

The doctors claimed that though Cheetah would be left with some amount of disability but with proper rehabilitation and physiotherapy he is likely to improve over a period of time. ``His comeback to normal life has shown the true grit of a warrior,’’ said Anurag Srivastava, Chief of AIIMS Trauma Centre.

The officer’s wife, Uma Singh, who stood beside him with an unshakable conviction that he will make it through, said she had a firm belief that would fight back like he did in the face of terrorists.

``He is a fighter. He fought this battle with death as he does when he wears his uniform to combat terrorists and militants. I was sure he will be victorious as he has always been in the line of duty,” Ms Singh said.

While remembering the day her husband was grievously injured in the counter Ms Singh said,``his eyes were closed, he was completely unconscious but the moment I saw him breathing, I knew he will make it through.’’

``Doctors would say he was in coma, but whenever I would meet him and hold his hands, he would respond by moving his fingers. That strengthened my faith that he was coming back to me,” she added.