Boy fights tiger in Uttarakhand, gets new lease of life in Gurugram

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, March 14

A boy from a remote area in Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, got a lease of life after he underwent multiple surgeries at Gurugram hospitals following a life-threatening encounter with a tiger on his way back from school.

Ankit (17), who has been shuttling between hospitals over the past four months, is ready to get on with his life after he underwent multiple reconstructive surgeries at a private hospital in Gurugram. Ankit was on his way back home from school with friends when he was attacked by a tiger from behind. While he managed to escape the grip of the animal, his face was disfigured and skull damaged. Though his encounter is lauded as an act of bravery and grit Ankit says it was an urge to survive that got him through.

“Tigers are a common sight in the area I come from. But there is a huge difference in seeing one, passing by and being attacked by one. Once the tiger attacked me from behind, I instinctively grabbed its tongue and kept pulling it till I became unconscious. I woke up in the hospital later,” says Ankit.

It was his friends who managed to take him to a nearby medical facility, where his condition was stabilised. The attack had caused severe injuries to his face, neck, scalp and right hand. He had bleak chances of survival and was asked to go to a bigger hospital so he was taken to a private hospital in Gurugram.

“When we first saw him we thought his chances of survival was dismal. There was massive blood loss and Hb level was as low as three. His scalp and skull bone was severely damaged, his face was disfigured and his right-hand thumb was partially amputated. He has undergone multiple surgeries and it is his grit, which has pulled him through,” said Dr Ashish Dhingra, plastic and cosmetic surgeon of a private hospital in Gurugram.