Dr MC Mishra, Chief of AIIMS Trauma Centre, said “Dutta’s condition is stable after the painstaking surgery and he is recovering steadily. He has been put on oral feed today; he can talk and will be allowed to walk in a few days’ time.”

Early morning on July 12, the 23-year-old Dutta, employed as an executive with HCL, met with a near-fatal accident on his way to office. A two-inches wide and five-feet long iron angle pierced through him as driver of the office cab lost control of the vehicle and collided with the construction barricade on the Gurgaon- Mehrauli Road. Dutta, who was brought to the AIIMS Trauma Centre one and a half hours after the accident with the rod embedded in his body, underwent a rare surgery performed by a team of five surgeons.

The tricky surgery proved to be a real challenge for the doctors. The initial complication they faced was anaesthising Dutta, who could not lie down because of the rod. After that, removing the rod itself from his body took around three hours out of the six hours the surgery lasted.