CHENNAI: M Sunderajan, an electrical engineer who wo-rks for a private company at the Chennai Port, can use his right hand to sign his name, make a fist, pick up a phone and hold a glass and drink from it. These aren’t spectacular achievements, unless you count the fact that his right arm had been cut off in a freak accident last year.Driving to work at 5 am on June 3, 2011, Sunderajan miscalculated the space in between two trailer trucks. Looking down on feeling a shooting pain in his shoulder, to his horror, he found that his right arm had been completely severed by a sharp protrusion from one of the trailers.With the help of colleagues and friends, and the ambulance permanently stationed at the port, Sunderajan was rushed immediately to Apollo Hospital. One of his colleagues had the presence of mind to pick up the severed limb and transport it carefully to the hospital. Speaking at a press conference, Dr Manjushree Naik, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, says, “This played a major part in the success of the operation.”The 38-year-old man was a prime candidate for a replanting operation — he had no medical conditions. The downsides were the fact that he was a smoker and the injury was not a clean cut. TO ensure blood circulation before the cells and muscles die, the surgery had to be done within six hours of the accident.Five surgeons and an anaesthetist performed an eight-hour-long surgery. After the procedure, he was monitored for life and limb trouble. Fifteen days after the accident, he was home, arms intact. As nerve cells grew back at the rate of one inch per month, progress was expected to be slow. Dr Sathyabhama, Director of Medical Service, said, “Due to his committed physiotherapy exercises, Sunderajan has regained use of his hand quickly.”Sunderajan credits his recovery to the doctors and his company. “The company provided all medical expenses and gave me six months paid leave so that my family would have support. I am now back at work,” he says.
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