Mumbai, Jun 26 (IANS): In a major life-saving operation, doctors of a Mumbai civic hospital saved the life of a woman labourer who fell at a construction site and an 18-inch-long iron rod pierced through her chest, officials said here on Saturday.

The incident took place on June 19, when the 29-year-old victim was working along with her husband on an upper floor of an under-construction building in Vikhroli suburb of north-eastern Mumbai.

She suddenly fell down to the ground floor straight onto an iron rod which pierced right through her chest and jutted out of the back, as she screamed for help in a pool of blood.

The workers at the site immediately rushed her to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s Rajawadi Hospital, where she was administered first-aid and transferred to the LTMG Hospital, Sion, for further treatment.

A full-fledged medical team comprising Vineet Kumar, Ranjit Kamble, Parth Patel, Cardiologist Kuntal Surana, Anaesthetist Tejaswini Jambotkar, paramedics and others, was formed to handle the delicate case.

Given the life-threatening situation, they decided to immediately perform an emergency surgery to remove the rod and save the woman.

"The big challenge was, owing to the penetrating rod, it was not possible to make her lie on the operating table. After a lot of efforts, she was placed on a cushion and the complicated, three-hour long surgery was performed," said the LTMG Dean Mohan Joshi.

After the successful procedure, the woman was wheeled out to a ward, kept under observation for a week and finally declared out of danger today (June 26), Joshi added.

Top civic officers like Additional Municipal Commissioners Suresh Kakani and Deputy Municipal Commissioner D. Kshirsagar, have lauded the efforts of the LTMG team including the medical and para-medical staff for carrying out a life-saver procedure during the pandemic times.