Bengaluru: Hospital helps Nigerian walk again

Bengaluru: "I was thrown off from the car below the bridge and because of the impact, I was badly injured but still conscious when help arrived. Later I was told that my neck was broken and that I had suffered a spinal injury," says 50-year-old Akinola from Nigeria.

A serious road accident rendered the 50-year-old banker paralyzed, as he suffered a spinal injury (his spine had snapped and spinal cord injured). He recalls, "I could barely move my limbs and was suffering from unbearable pain. I couldn't even get out of bed," says Akinola. He also underwent physiotherapy for a few months but nothing seemed to help. At that time, his family heard of Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road through an acquaintance.

"We conducted detailed tests including CT scan, MRI and ultrasound and found that Akinola had suffered from Traumatic cervical fracture dislocation, where one of the bones (vertebra) of the neck had dislocated and had moved in front of the lower one. There was complete fracture and dislocation of the joints between the two bones. And, the dislocated bone was pressing on the spinal cord," informed Dr S S Praharaj, Consultant Neurosurgeon at Fortis Hospitals.

Dr Praharaj and his team stabilized the bones by fixing them in place with rods and screws, from the back. In the second stage, a 'corpectomy' was done and after that a procedure called spinal fusion was performed to provide stability.

When did it happen?
May 2015. Nigeria. It was a regular day at work for Akinola in as he went about his duties as a banker. Nothing could have prepared him for what lay ahead on that fateful day. What happened next was totally unexpected. "I was thrown off from the car below the bridge and because of the impact, I was badly injured but I was still conscious when help arrived. Later I came to know that my neck was broken and that I had suffered a spinal injury," says 50-year-old Akinola who is still recovering after being paralyzed for months.