Walking miracle

Surgeons reattached Mo’s legs after they were both severed when a train ran over him and his mother

The boy was lying in a pool of blood, with severed lower limbs HOSPITAL DIRECTOR

A TODDLER who lost his legs when he was hit by a train is walking again after doctors reattached the limbs. Two-year-old Mohammed Saleh’s mum died in the accident and he was left fighting for his life. One of his legs was severed above the knee, the other below. Horrified onlookers scooped up the boy, put the limbs in a polystyrene box and raced him to hospital. Surgeons managed to reattach the legs during a seven-hour operation. Eight months on, Mohammed is now able to walk and run. Experts at the Indian hospital where he had the op said the successful re-connection of both legs has only happened 13 times in the world before and only four of those occasions involved children. Dr Dinesh Kadam, of AJ Hospital in Mangalore, said. “The boy has made a good recovery. “He has undergone skin grafting surgeries and implant removal procedures. “Fractured bones have united and he is now able to walk independently. “He has made good recovery of muscle power and sensory recognition in both his rejoined limbs.” Mohammed’s mum was carrying him across railway tracks when they were hit by the train.

AJ Hospital medical director Dr. Prashant Marl said: “The mother was killed, while the boy luckily survived but lost both his legs.

“He was lying in a pool of blood with severed lower limbs and was rescued by some citizens and railway police and taken to a hospital in Payyanur, Kerala.

“After giving first aid, the baby was referred to our hospital with the amputated limbs well preserved in ice.

“The amputated legs were transported in a Thermocol box, kept in a polythene pack with surrounding ice.”

Doctors treating Mohammed did not know his name and were not able to trace his father, who works in Dubai, before the operation.

Marl added: “We had no clue about the whereabouts of the family.

“It was an extremely rare and critical situation for the baby and the doctors had to take a decision on the further course of action.

“He was alert, in a state of shock, unable to communicate, too dazed to even cry.

“He was very pale due to severe blood loss.

“The priority was to save the child and treat the injuries.

“Rejoining an amputated limb is a complex procedure, both technical and in terms of its effects on the patient. It is a long process.”