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Month: July 2020

Politician and Secretary injured by a Grenade Blast

Politician and Secretary injured by a Grenade Blast

Upali was the Private Secretary to a senior Politician in Polonnaruwa. On 11th of October 1987 at around 9 am Upali and his Boss were at their office in the Polonnaruwa Town Centre.  An unknown assailant entered the office and lobbed a hand grenade to the place where the two of them were seated. The grenade exploded and both suffered injuries. The noise created by the blast caused pandemonium in the town. The two victims were put in the politician’s…

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Susantha – Boy from the Rural Hamlet

Susantha – Boy from the Rural Hamlet

Kadawathamaduwa is a remote village in Polonnaruwa bordering the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. In the early hours of 29th May 1987, the terrorists in Eastern Province invaded this village from their jungle hide-outs armed with weapons, knives, swords etc. The villagers were attacked ruthlessly.  They had shot and chopped them up with their knives and swords and killed the innocent villagers at random. Many had died on the spot with serious injuries. The dead and the survivors were brought…

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Survives Gunshot Injury through Head!

Survives Gunshot Injury through Head!

The Neurosurgical emergencies that I witnessed during my surgical training were those that were at the Trauma Centre in the main hospital in Colombo called The Accident Service. During my period of service at the Base Hospital in Polonnaruwa there were many occasions where I had to attend to patients with Neurosurgical Trauma, especially victims of war.  I had to perform emergency surgery on the head as the nearest Neurosurgical Centre was at least 150 Km away in Kandy or…

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Shot in the Belly, Bowel’s out

Shot in the Belly, Bowel’s out

Admitted to Hospital 12 hours Later Before the on set of the war in the North-East of the country, gunshot victim admissions were few at the Polonnaruwa Hospital. They were mostly victim so flow-velocity (less than 300 m/s) fire arms such as shotguns. Occasionally, a surgeon may encounter unusual problems like what I experienced at the Base Hospital, Polonnaruwa. This is a story of a 30 year-old man who was shot-at and faced numerous issues before recovering and going home….

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Injuries to farmers in Polonnaruwa

Injuries to farmers in Polonnaruwa

In this rural District the majority of the people were farmers. They were exposed to variety of dangerous practices which caused injuries requiring admission to hospital for surgery. There were occasions when these were fatal. A variety of such injuries too had to be treated in the local hospital with the limited resources that were available. I had no experience of treating such injuries in the past as they are seen only in rural hospitals where I had not worked…

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A Healing Knife for the Deadly Knife

A Healing Knife for the Deadly Knife

The knife that is used by the surgeon consists of a scalpel blade and a handle. That’s my “Healing Knife”. When performing surgery this healing knife is used meticulously together with other surgical instruments to excise diseased parts of the human body and carry out the necessary repair to restore body function, relieve suffering and save precious lives.A surgeon does this with care, compassion and love. That is a surgeon’s duty and that was my duty for over three decades….

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Kerosene burns caused by a bottle lamp

Kerosene burns caused by a bottle lamp

During the time that I was serving in Polonnaruwa as the surgeon in that hospital I was called upon to treat many victims who had suffered burn injuries sustained from Kerosene oil bottle lamps. There were many rural hamlets where farmers lived and had no access to electricity from the grid supplying the town areas. Consequently, they were using a low-cost solution: kerosene oil in bottles with a wick as their lighting source. These bottles with kerosene can topple, the…

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An Unusual Patient

An Unusual Patient

24th February 1988 As I was passing the Polonnaruwa Veterinary Clinic I saw a crowd gathered there. I stopped my car and checked what was going on. The people told me that a baby elephant had been brought for treatment. The mother elephant had died after being knocked down by a train at Minneriya. The baby elephant had been captured by the “Vets” and she was in dire straits because the naval was very badly infected with a discharge of…

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Saving Lives & Limb

Saving Lives & Limb

Life is like a book. Each page has a new content. This quote pertains to my adventurous 38 years of life as a surgeon in Sri Lanka. There were many times when I had to make my own bold decisions especially in life or death situations. Here are a few illustrations of patients treated at a hospital with limited resources during the period 1982 – 1988 Nihal was a 26 – year old Commando of the Police Special Task Force…

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A Surgeon’s Prayer

A Surgeon’s Prayer

These strong gloved fingers Which I flex – This human hand Which holds the knife, Sterile now and steady – Need thy guiding skill To help another life. Bless now this patient – Thine and mine – Who, under Thee, entrusts to me A precious life! God of the surgeon’s tireless strength, The surgeon’s finite skill, Grant that I may be guided To do Thy will. Dear Reader, you might be interested to read my next post, were I speak…

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