Delhi Gang Rape Patient Has Brain Injury, Fighting For Her Life, Doctors Say

Agence France-Presse - Getty ImagesAmbulances parked outside the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where the 23-year old gang rape victim is being treated.

The medical condition of the 23-year-old woman who was raped by several men and thrown off a moving bus on Dec. 16 is worse than previous reports had indicated, according to a statement Friday from the Singapore hospital where she is being treated.

Dr. Kevin Loh, chief executive of Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said in a statement Friday:

“As at 28 Dec, 11am (Singapore time) the patient continues to remain in an extremely critical condition. She is still receiving treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital's Intensive Care Unit.

Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury. The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life.

A multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival, and is doing everything possible to stabilize her condition over the next few days.”

On Thursday afternoon, hours after the patient arrived in Singapore from New Delhi, Dr. Loh described her condition as “extremely critical,” and said she had had three abdominal surgeries and a cardiac arrest before arrival.

In an interview Thursday evening, Mahesh Chandra Misra, professor and head of the department o f surgical disciplines at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, who was part of the team caring for the patient in New Delhi, described her initial injuries as the worse he'd ever seen. “As doctors, we've never witnessed anything like this,” he said.

The patient was “practically dead,” when she was brought in to Safdarjung Hospital on the morning of Dec. 17, and had to be resuscitated, he said. Then, the doctor's immediate focus was on damage control, he said, and her small and large intestines were removed because they were gangrenous.

“Her intestines were hanging out” when she arrived at the hospital, he said. Her injuries indicated that an iron rod had been used to attack her, the doctor said. The young woman was taken off a ventilator last Friday, but then put back on a ventilator on Sunday.

She's had three surgeries so far, which were extensive operations, he said. She is jaundiced and has liver damage, Mr. Misra said.

Her heal th was critical when she was shifted to Singapore last night. “Right now, her heart needs to be stabilized,” Dr. Misra said. The doctors task in Singapore is “bringing her back from this condition,” he said.