Piece of metal lodged in ex-president's lung missed his heart by one centimeter: doctors

A piece of metal which was lodged in Former President and Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed’s lung had missed his heart by just one centimeter, doctors have revealed.

During a press briefing held on Saturday afternoon, a team of first responders to treat the injured former president briefed the public regarding his status.

As such, they revealed that high priority had been given to remove the shrapnel lodged in Nasheed’s lung. Doctors had discovered an exit wound where the shrapnel shattered the ex-president’s ribs and was removed from the other side.

Highlighting that Nasheed was conscious and responding to questions when he was brought to the hospital on the night of the IED blast, the doctor revealed that he was bleeding heavily due to which he was rushed to the operation theater immediately. His airway was cleaned and he was put on incubator in preparation for surgery.

Initially doctors had attended to his flesh wounds after which a CT scan was conducted as well as a full body screening.

The full body screening showed several metal pieces lodged inside his body, asides from external wounds and doctors had also discovered pieces of plastic inside his body.

The doctors revealed that Nasheed attained seven more injuries near his chest which did not pose any dangers to his life.

Doctors were able to control his bleeding and attend his lung injury, which was followed by a procedure on his stomach and abdominal area where three pieces of metal were wedged in his gut. The pieces were large enough to show up in a CT scan, said the doctors.

Further doctors discovered puncture wounds on his stomach with 600 - 700ml of blood accumulated inside. There were four puncture wounds, similar to which Nasheed experience liver trauma.

As such, a piece of razor was scanned and removed from his liver.

The former president also had metal pieces removed from his elbow, thigh and knee-cap.

During the presser doctors stressed that the emergency trauma Nasheed has experienced was not normal, even for experienced and trained professionals.

Nasheed was moved to the Critical Care Unit in ADK Hospital after 16 hours of successful surgeries. He was put on ventilator support and remained unconscious until his vitals had stabilized. He was taken off of life support on Saturday morning and could breathe on his own. Family members have confirmed that Nasheed said he is “good” and that he will return stronger.

While Nasheed is on a long road to recovery, doctors have expressed concerns over a great risk of infection due to his internal injuries.