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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Surgery saves boy who gulped tiny LED bulb

Mumbai : In a bizarre development, a small boy from Kolhapur swallowed a tiny LED light bulb a few months ago that got stuck deep in his...

Surgery saves boy who gulped tiny LED bulb

Mumbai : In a bizarre development, a small boy from Kolhapur swallowed a tiny LED light bulb a few months ago that got stuck deep in his lung causing huge trauma and emotional stress for his family, officials said.   When the unusual case was referred to the Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre (JHRC), a team of medicos successfully extricated the foreign object lodged in the three-and-half-year-old boy’s chest.   Recounting the remarkable feat, a JHRC official said the child, Aarav Patil was reported to be suffering from severe breathing difficulties and incessant coughing for almost three months.   Doctors treating him at his home town initially mistook it for pneumonia and subjected him to multiple courses of antibiotics and other medicines, but there was improvement in the boy’s condition.   Subsequently, he was taken for advanced tests, examinations and a CT Scan which revealed the shocker – a metallic object was sitting inside the boy’s left bronchus, partially blocking the airway.   More tests identified the offending object – it was a LED bulb from a toy car – a development so rare that even seasoned doctors described it as a ‘one in a million case’.   Though doctors in Kolhapur attempted to retrieve the foreign body through flexible bronchoscopy - a minimally invasive procedure - the attempts proved to be unsuccessful.   As Aarav’s condition appeared to deteriorate, his desperate family rushed him to JHRC and he was referred to a team of specialist doctors.   After studying his case and examining Aarav, the medical team comprising thoracic surgeon Dr. Vimesh Rajput, ENT surgeon Dr. Divya Prabhat and Dr. Anurag Jain discovered that the bulb had not only blocked the bronchus but had also embedded itself in the surrounding tissues of the lung tissue, making its removal extremely challenging.   A rigid bronchoscopy conducted further confirmed the severity of the obstruction. Left with no other option, the doctors decided to opt for a mini thoracotomy — a delicate surgery involving a 4-centimeter incision in the chest.   “This was one of the rarest cases we’ve encountered. The bulb was lodged in such a way that conventional methods could not retrieve it. Through careful planning and teamwork, we managed to safely remove the object by a mini thoracotomy and restored Aarav’s lung function,” explained Dr. Rajput.   Emphasising how such cases are ignored, Dr. Prabhat pointed out that chronic cough or breathing issues are often dismissed as common pneumonia or even asthma.   “However, such persistent symptoms must always be investigated thoroughly, especially through early detection and imaging which can make all the difference to the patient,” she averred.   JHRC CMO Dr. Milind Khadke said, “The foreign body aspiration in kids is far more common that parents may realise but quick intervention is critical to prevent long-term medical complications.”

Test of the Trouble Shooter

Updated: Nov 12, 2024

Girish Mahajan

Over the past decade Girish Mahajan has come be known as the most trusted aide of Devendra Fadnavis and an ace trouble-shooter for the BJP. He had been an MLA since 1995 and had been active in the politics since much before that. Yet, the meteoric rise of this fitness-freak leader in the state politics over the past decade is mesmarising.


Born in a Marathi Gurjar family, on May 17, 1960, in Jamner of Jalgaon district of North Maharashtra, Girish Dattatray Mahajan first came to political fore as a student activist on the dais of ABVP in 1978. As an active member of the students’ organization, he engaged in grassroots activities, including painting walls and distributing promotional posters. His dedication and leadership skills quickly earned him the position of Taluka President of ABVP.


Mahajan’s formal political journey began in the early 1980s when he became the Taluka President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP. His first significant electoral success came in 1992 when he was elected to the Gram Panchayat of Jamner. This victory marked the beginning of a long and illustrious career in state politics.


In 1995, Mahajan was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the first time, representing the Jamner constituency. He had defeated former MLA Ishwarlal Jain who had a considerable clout over the district politics and hence Mahajan was hailed as a giant killer. He had received an insider’s help from within Jain’s camp and he boasts about it ever since then. After that victory, Mahajan has been re-elected from the constituency multiple times, hoping to continue with the seventh consecutive term as of 2024. His consistent electoral success is a testament to his strong connection with the people of his constituency and his effective leadership.


Within the BJP Eknath Khadse was the prominent state-level leader from the Jalgaon district. Mahajan remained underdog for a long time and after 2014 he got the chance he had been waiting for to carve out a space for himself in the state politics.


Mahajan was appointed as the Minister of Water Resources in the cabinet of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2014 and in 2016, he took the role of Minister of Medical Education. In 2022, under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, he was appointed as the Minister of Rural Development. But, his main role in the state politics remained outside the departments he handled. Under both the chief ministers, he remained a prominent negotiator with the Maratha activists. For Fadnavis he always remained a loyal aide whenever there were troubles within the party also. He gained political power by systematically wiping out the opposition from Dhule, Jalgaon and Nandurbar districts of North Maharashtra and has emerged as an undisputed leader of North Maharashtra.

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