Teacher’s severed hand reattached after 6-hour long surgery

The hand of Fahima Begum, a college teacher, has been reattached in a six-hour long surgery today after it was severed in a road accident in Gopalganj on the same day.

Fahima, 50, a teacher of the civic department of Dhaka's Willes Little Flower School and College, and at least 10 students of the institution were injured when the bus they were on collided with a parked truck this afternoon.

The teacher and one of the students, both having critical injuries, were flown to Dhaka on an air-ambulance after primary treatment at a local hospital, said Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Gopalganj Sadar Police Station.

Fahima was admitted to Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute in the capital around 4:00pm.

"After a six-hour long operation, Fahima's hand has been reattached, and blood flow in the hand is now normal. The patient will be kept at the intensive care unit (ICU) today," said Prof Abul Kalam, director of Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute.

"The patient's condition is stable at the moment. The damage caused from the injury has been repaired. However, we would have to keep her under observation for four to five days and monitor her improvement to conclude whether the surgery was successful or not," he added.

Eighteen surgeons from different departments took part in the surgery, Kalam said.

Samanta Lal Sen, chief coordinator of the institute, earlier told The Daily Star that Fahima's condition was critical.

Her left arm, till the elbow, had been severed. She also had injuries on her right hand, head and other parts of her body, he said.