In a stroke of wild luck and medical precision, a Peruvian woman has survived after having fallen from a balcony onto an iron construction pole, which impaled her shoulder and was just millimetres from her aortic artery.
Virginia Patricia Gallardo Diaz, fell earlier this month after trying to prevent her granddaughter from doing the same, and underwent surgery at the Cajamarca Regional Hospital to remove the iron pole which entered her body and reached the lung.
Surgeon, Carlos Zapatel, explained the state Diaz was in when she arrived to the hospital.
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“She was in a very bad state overall, very bad state, she was brought by the fire service and entered into shock as a result of the trauma, for which she was stabilised,” said Zapatel on Wednesday (January 18).
“The trajectory through the body meant that nerves were injured, in this case the left brachial plexus nerve. Part of the left subclavian artery was also injured, the lower lobe of the lung, and the aortic artery was only saved by a few millimetres, the iron pole ran parallel to the aorta. When we examined her, the iron pole was even moving with the same frequency as the aorta,” he explained.
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He said the operation had been carried out successfully without damaging any organs, and that Diaz was recovering well.
“Her recovery has been very good and she is now walking, she is breathing, the x-rays are also improving well, she must just continue with the respective controls,” said Zapatel.
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