Seven-year-old Tajveen was traveling with her parents when their car hit a divider near Inderpuri in central Delhi last week. While the other occupants survived with minor injuries, Tajveen suffered serious injuries in the accident. A rod pierced the seven-year-old’s girl’s right rib cage. Her father, Kulbir Singh, somehow managed to pull out the rod from Tajveen, but it led to heavy bleeding. By the time she was rushed to the nearest hospital, the girl’s pulse was barely detectable. She was in deep shock, bleeding profusely from the entry and exit wounds. Ideally, doctors advise that in case of impalement with a rod, one should try and bring the patient with the rod itself to avoid bleeding to death. It took two surgeries, conducted in the middle of the night, to save the girl and her upper limb that were extensively damaged in the accident. Dr. Prashant Jain, a pediatric surgeon at BLK Super Specialty Hospital and his team of pediatric intensivists said the rod exposed Tajveen’s right rib cage while crushing the chest area. “Her chest was full of blood due to external and internal bleeding. Her right limb was cold and her pulse could not be detected. Initially, 4-5 units of blood were transfused to stabilize her and her wounds were cleaned as pieces of glass were present in the body,” he added. Further investigation revealed Tajveen’s right subclavian artery, which supplies blood to the right arm with some branches supplying the head and thorax, were also crushed in the accident. Once she was stabilized, doctors decided to repair the damaged blood vessel to save her upper limb. A graft was taken from her lower limb and this replaced the crushed subclavian artery. However, the CT scan showed blockage of the graft. Dr. Jain said Tajveen was re-explored within 24 hours and a synthetic graft was put in place of the previous graft and attached to the main arteries. He added that Tajveen’s life and limb were saved due to timely surgical intervention. “The doctors took care of our daughter and saved her right limb. We cannot thank them enough for this miracle” Tajveen’s father added.