By Prishania Govender
When 24-year-old Viarshan Naidoo was wheeled into the emergency unit of Flora Clinic, doctors had little hope for his survival.
Eight months later he has defied the odds and his condition is improving all the time.
Intensive rehabilitation could help him walk again, but Viarshan first needs to undergo an hour-long operation to close a hole in his skull.
Viarshan was hit by a tow truck in March. As a result of the accident, he sustained severe head injuries and a fractured jaw, and lost several teeth.
Flora Clinic neurosurgeon Dinesh Naidoo said at the time that Viarshan's prognosis was poor.
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"He was critical. His brain was swollen and had an acute subdural haematoma (bleeding on the surface of the brain). If we didn't operate then, he would have died," he said.
To remove the clots on the brain Naidoo had to remove a piece of Viarshan's skull. Normally this would be replaced immediately after the clots were removed, but because his brain was severely swollen, Naidoo decided to sew the piece of skull into Viarshan's anterior abdominal wall to keep it free from infection.
For five-and-a-half months Viarshan was in ICU, first at Flora Clinic and then at several other private hospitals.
Ideally Naidoo should have replaced the piece of skull within six weeks but this has yet to be done because the family have run out of money.
According to Naidoo, the operation will cost between R40 000 and R50 000. The family owe Flora Clinic R250 000. In addition they need a further R300 000 for rehabilitation.
They have no medical aid and opting to have the operation in a government hospital will mean that Viarshan, a former aircraft engineering student, will have to wait several months for the surgery as it is now not deemed an emergency.
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