Bus driver impaled with a three-foot BAMBOO POLE after a head-on smash with a truck... and doctors kept him awake during the entire operation to remove it

  • WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
  • Lakshmi Kanta Bhunia, 50, had been in the driver's seat during the crash
  • He collided head-on with a truck carrying bamboo poles near Digha, India
  • In a three-hour long operation, a team of 12 removed the object
  • Lakshmi is now undergoing post-operation treatment in hospital

By Harvey Day For Mailonline

Published: 06:01 EST, 17 September 2016 | Updated: 07:25 EST, 17 September 2016

A bus driver impaled by a three-foot bamboo pole has made a miracle recovery.

Lakshmi Kanta Bhunia, 50, had been in the driver's seat when his bus collided head-on with a truck carrying bamboo poles near Digha, in West Bengal, eastern India.

The impact was so severe that the three-foot pole pierced through the left side of his chest - and went straight out the other side.

He was rushed to hospital, where a team of medics battled to save him after the horrific injury.

Lakshmi Kanta Bhunia, 50, had been in the driver's seat when his bus collided head-on with a truck carrying bamboo poles near Digha, in West Bengal, eastern India

Lakshmi Kanta Bhunia, 50, had been in the driver's seat when his bus collided head-on with a truck carrying bamboo poles near Digha, in West Bengal, eastern India

In a complex operation lasting for three hours, a team of 12 including surgeons, nurses and paramedics removed the pole - that had luckily missed his vital organs by millimetres.

Incredibly, the entire operation was performed while Mr Bhunia was under local anaesthetic - and he was awake the entire time, sitting on an adjustable chair as doctors carefully removed the pole.

Dr Prokash Sanki, associate professor of the cardio thoracic unit at the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research hospital in Kolkata, said: 'More than the surgery, the bigger challenge was conducting such procedure with a patient seated and under local anaesthesia - because he could not lie down on his back.

'There was no way to administer general anaesthesia drugs because the surgery had to be done with the patient sitting.

The impact was so severe that the three-foot pole pierced through the left side of his chest - and went straight out the other side 

The impact was so severe that the three-foot pole pierced through the left side of his chest - and went straight out the other side 

'He was in severe pain and was bleeding profusely.

'After much discussion, an adjustable chair was arranged to make the patient seated through the surgery.

'We managed to create an opening through the neck into the patient's windpipe.

'Thankfully, the bamboo caused no harm to the patient's heart and lungs - but the entire procedure was very critical because there was a huge lacerated injury on his neck.'

Lakshmi is now undergoing post-operation treatment and is recovering in the hospital's intensive care unit on a ventilator.

Dr Sanki added: 'He is absolutely doing fine and recovering fast, and should be discharged soon.

'We are keeping him under observation for 48 hours.' 

Dr Prokash Sanki, from the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research hospital in Kolkata (pictured), said: 'More than the surgery, the bigger challenge was conducting such procedure with a patient seated and under local anaesthesia'

Dr Prokash Sanki, from the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research hospital in Kolkata (pictured), said: 'More than the surgery, the bigger challenge was conducting such procedure with a patient seated and under local anaesthesia'

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