Bengaluru train accident: Doctors save Polish woman's leg

Bengaluru: A young Polish woman, who was aboard the express train which derailed near here Friday, saved her injured left leg from being amputated, as doctors at a private hospital timely set right the fracture in her calf bone, a hospital official said.

"Our team of doctors, who operated on Alexandria Ryzczak Ola (24) Saturday, fixed the calf bone fracture externally through revascularisation process in which a vein from her right thigh was grafted into the left thigh to salvage the leg from being amputated," a Sparsh Hospital spokesman told IANS.

Ola, who is on a month-long tourist visit to India since Feb 2 with her husband Kamil Klebanski, 33, were on board the Bengaluru-Ernakulam inter-city express, which derailed near Anekal, 45km from here, killing nine passengers and leaving 10 others injured.

"We took a day train to reach Kochi Friday evening and celebrate the Valentine's Day Saturday on a houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala. Though fate willed otherwise, we are lucky to have survived the accident, as we both were in the same coach that had most of the victims," Klebnski said.

Klebnski, who was himself severely bruised, was worried about Ola's leg as the injury was severe and feared that she may have to give up the leg for survival. "I didn't realise the seriousness of Ola's injury till doctors told late Friday that they may have to amputate her left leg to prevent further bleeding and infection from spreading.

I just prayed and hoped she would respond to the emergency treatment and undergo the surgery to avoid her leg being cut off," said a now-relieved Klebnski The couple conveyed to their relatives in Poland through their embassy about their escape from the train accident and that Ola was recovering from a severe injury.

According to the spokesman, it will take over a week for the fracture to heal and another week for Ola to fully recover from the injury and walk again.