A 29-year-old man from Yemen had been living with a 3-cm-long bullet in his head for nearly 18 years until he landed in Bengaluru last week. A father of two, Saleh (name changed) was rendered deaf due to the injury.
According to a report in Times of India, the bullet was lodged deep inside his left temporal bone, causing him chronic headaches and persistent ear discharges.
The report stated that Saleh grew up in a village in Yemen with his six brothers and three sisters. His father was a farmer and mother a homemaker.
The family had a farm close to their residence, where they would grow onion, tomato, potato, garlic, and carrot. The publication stated that Saleh, an active child, would often help his father with watering and manuring the plants. He would also run errands.
His life changed for the worse at the age of 10. Saleh was reportedly caught in the midst of clashes between two warring groups while he was returning home from a shop.
“I got severely injured and bled profusely. It was a sunny afternoon and I was rushed to a hospital. They only cleaned the wound but didn’t bother to remove the bullet,” Saleh was quoted as saying by TOI.
As the bullet had pierced through the ear, the entrance of the ear narrowed, leading to discharges. The bullet was partly exposed in the ear passage, while its inner end was lodged in the bone, causing a wound that just wouldn’t heal, the report stated.
Saleh said that puss accumulation would lead to repeated ear infections, which then would trigger headaches. Through his friends, the 29-year-old got to know about a hospital in Bengaluru. Thus, he landed in the city with much hope.
“The bullet was lodged inside his ear, deep inside the temporal bone in the left side and very close to the vital vascular structures, which made surgery challenging. Because of the proximity of the surgical site to the vital vascular structures, the patient was at risk of major bleeding when the bullet was removed,” Dr Rohit Udaya Prasad, lead consultant, ENT and cochlear implant surgery, at Aster RV was quoted as saying.
The surgical team chose to do a contrast CT angiography instead of an MRI to figure out the location of the blood vessels in relationship to the bullet, TOI stated.
The surgery has reportedly relieved Saleh’s pain and partially restored his hearing. The ear discharge too has stopped.
Saleh flew back to Yemen after the surgery and is doing well now. He is currently pursuing his degree in English and French. While heading home, Saleh left behind the bullet so as to avoid detention at the airport, the report concluded.
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