Last 26/11 victim to be discharged from Bombay Hospital soon

Jharna Narang (35), who was hit by five bullets during the 26/11 seige at the Taj hotel, will bring in her 36th birthday with the Bombay Hospital staff on March 5

For surgeons and doctors at Bombay Hospital, the recovery and the imminent discharge of their patient Jharna Narang (35) is nothing short of a miracle. Narang, will be the last of the 84 injured in the Mumbai terror attack of November 26 to leave hospital. Tomorrow she brings in her 36th birthday with the hospital staff.



Senior Surgeon Dr M M Begani said, "She is a miracle woman because it is only her will power and the ability to fight it out that we could pull her out from the clutches of death."

Begani recalls that Narang was brought in a comatose state that night and had lost a lot of blood. Her torso was riddled with five bullets injuries, and she had injuries on her arm, hip and spine and had temporary paraplegia. She had multiple operations, which lasted for over 12 hours, requiring 48 bottles of blood.

Under observation

What happenedu00a0on the night of 26/11... Jharna Narang, whou00a0runs a fashion jewellery outlet, was celebrating her brother Gunjan's 30th birthday at the Taj Hotel's Golden Dragon restaurant, along with her father Vishnu (65), mother Neelam (53), Gunjan's wife Shruti (28) and her parents, when the terrorists attacked the hotel on November 26. Only Jharna, who was grievously injured, Shruti and her parents survived the ordeal.

u00a0"Thereafter she was under constant observation by a panel of 19 experts from the fields of neurosurgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery, psychiatry, nephrology and physiotherapy," said Dr Begani. She was on a ventilator for two months.

A month ago, she was moved from the ICU to a special room. The move was emotionally harrowing that's when the doctors told her about the deaths of her entire family, massacred at the Taj's Golden Dragon restaurant. "She took the loss boldly. Though she initially showed symptoms of depression, she recover soon enough," said Dr Begani. Narang, however, was unable to talk to this paper after going through a MRI yesterday.

Narang's hospital medical expenses amounting to over Rs 40 lakh was paid for by the Ratan Tata Charitable Trust, said the doctor.u00a0