GMCH docs save farmer who attempted suicide twice

Nagpur: A 35-year-old farmer from a small village in Narkhed tehsil, who consumed poison and later tried to hang himself, was given a new lease of life in the Government Medical College hospital (GMCH) after the intensive care unit (ICU) doctors made every possible effort to save him.
Dr Milind Wyawahare, who heads the ICU at GMCH, said it was not less than any miracle because the man was brought in a very critical condition and that too after nearly 2 hours of travel from his village on December 5.
“He had consumed insecticide, locked the room from inside and hanged himself with rope of baby cradle. After his wife peeped in through the locked door, she saw her husband hanging and raised an alarm. The man’s father jumped inside the room from the roof and untied the noose,” said Dr Wyawahare.
The patient was brought to the ICU on December 5 evening. He was unconscious due to hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (a type of brain dysfunction that occurs when the brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen or blood flow) and had full-blown signs of organophosphate (OP) poisoning with bilateral aspiration.
“The patient was put on ventilator on admission and successfully weaned off today after 20 days of the life support,” said Dr Wyawahare.
The farmer’s wife told TOI that he was the only earning member in the family. Owner of just 1 acre land, the couple has two kids — a 3-year-old son and a 2-month-old daughter. The farmer was frustrated because of the economic crisis, especially after Covid-19 period.
The incident is not just a story of saving a young life, but also shows that farmers, especially those who own smaller pieces of land, are still facing life and death crises. “We consider ourselves fortunate as we could have lost life of a head of the family with children. The patient is doing well now. He will get discharge soon,” said a resident doctor from the ICU.