Indian doctors cure Iraqi's 15-year-old 'curse'

New Delhi -  A gunshot wound left one of his legs motionless, forcing him to walk with a limp for more than 15 years. But thanks to Indian doctors, this Iraqi national is now on the road to  recovery.

Taxi driver Nadim, 60, was attending a relative's wedding when he was accidentally hit by bullets which revelers fired in the air to celebrate.

"I got hit by some bullets which totally destroyed my knee and hip joint and my leg was as stiff as a log of wood. The injury shortened my right leg by six cm. I felt as if I was cursed because I  had to walk around with an embarrassing limp," Nadim told IANS over phone from Basra, some 450 km from Baghdad.

"I underwent three to four surgeries here over a period of several years but to no avail and finally decided to visit India as I heard that the country was one of the best in medical care," he  added.

Nadim spent nearly a month at the Artemis Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) in Faridabad, adjoining the capital, and underwent two surgeries on his leg, which the doctors claim is rare .

"The patient had his right hip and knee joints completely fused with a shortening of six cm in the leg. It rarely happens that two surgeries are done on the same leg," V.K. Gupta, senior  consultant and head of department orthopaedics at AIMS, told IANS.

Gupta thoroughly investigated Nadim's case for 10 days and after consulting with his team, finally decided to replace both his knee and hip joints.

"After studying the facts, we decided to operate on the knee joint first, which was mobilised after a time consuming tissue release and bone cutting, followed by replacement," said Gupta.

"It was a complex surgery because all the tissues had stuck together over the years and as there was no movement. The muscles had hardened," he added.

After the surgery, Nadim's right leg gained five cm in length. The procedure cost him $16,000 (Rs.7.9 lakh), much cheaper than in US or Europe.

Nadim, who left Delhi Jan 25 and is currently using a walker, would be absolutely fine after a month.