KOLKATA: The sound of a coffee mug hitting the floor is enough to scare Sangita Prasad. The 31-year-old has largely overcome the physical injury sustained during the blast at Nagerbazar on October 2. But her trauma persists. On Sashthi, the homemaker was discharged from hospital as doctors at ILS Hospital, Dum Dum, found her stable enough to be sent home. But they say the mental scar will take time to heal.“I still pinch myself to believe that I survived the blast. Even if I try to forget the incident, it keeps coming back,” Prasad toldon Monday.Prasad had just paid Ajit Haldar, a fruit-seller who died of injuries from the blast last Saturday at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, for the fruits she had bought and was waiting for the balance when the blast shook up the entire locality, killing a child.Rushed by residents of the area to nearby ILS Hospital in Dum Dum, doctors wasted no time. She was taken to the OT even before admission formalities had been completed. “Her lower abdomen had burst, exposing the intestinal contents. Her small intestine had multiple perforations, and it bled from the vessels. Her life was at risk,” said Dr Devraj Roy who treated Sangita.Roy and his team conducted an anastomosis in which the healthy portions of the intestine were joined after cleaning the site. An ileostomy was also done during the surgical procedure that lasted about five hours. Apart from affecting the liver function, other organs had escaped unhurt.Prasenjit Sarkar and his team then took over charge of treatment at ITU as she was extremely vulnerable to infections. Sangita was shifted out of the ITU after six days. Even while she was recovering from the physical injuries, Sangita had to be counselled repeatedly for her mental trauma. She is also on anti-anxiety drugs. “Considering the kind of trauma the family has been going through, we have decided not to charge them anything for the treatment,” said Nibedita Chatterjee, CEO of ILS Hospital.The burn injury on the face and left upper limbs has healed to a large extent. The injury in the tympanic membrane in the ear is also treated. The ileostomy, however, can be closed only after about three months. “We are happy that she is back home on Sasthi. We are thankful to doctors at ILS Hospital to ensure that our Devi could return home during the Durga puja,” said Sangita’s father-inlaw, Kishor Prasad.On that fateful day, her daughter, Sneha, a Class-III student, had thrown tantrum and insisted that her mother should take her along to buy fruits. “Thank God, my wife refused to entertain her tantrums. Otherwise God knows what could have happened,” said husband Amit Prasad.

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