Woman critically injured by kite string saved

LUCKNOW: The menace of glasscoated ‘manjha’ (kite string) reared its ugly head once again a few week ago when a 20-yearold woman sustained serious injuries at Burlington crossing here.

On Monday, 20 days after her neck was slit by a kite string, the woman was declared fit to be discharged by the King George’s Medical University (KGMU), where she was operated upon.

“She was driving her scooty through the crowded crossing when the kite string, probably a Chinese one, slit about 30% of her neck. The wind pipe, situated in the front part of the neck, as well as the food pipe, which lies behind the wind pipe, got cut,” said Dr Ved Prakash, senior faculty, department of pulmonary and critical care medicine and in-charge of the respiratory ICU (RICU), where the patient was admitted.

The woman came to the KGMU on December 25, soon after the accident, and was put on ventilator on December 28. “She was operated upon to repair the damaged wind and food pipes. As blood was going inside the wind pipe because of which she was choking, she was placed on ventilator support,” said Dr Prakash.

He said she would be discharged in a few days. “Her ventilator support and even the artificial passage created for breathing have all been removed,” said the doctor.

“Kite flying should not be done in places where there is a risk of someone getting hurt. Also, Chinese strings have glass coating on them, which can be lethal for human body,” he added.