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Traumatised quake victim attempts suicide

ABBOTTABAD: Doctors are struggling to save the life of a traumatised earthquake victim from Batagram district after he attempted to commit suicide, a doctor at the Ayub Medical Complex (AMC) said on Tuesday.

Hakim Khan, 25, survived the devastating earthquake but was suffering from mental trauma. “I cannot say that Khan is out of danger,” Dr Fazal Wadood of the surgical ward of the Ayub Medical Complex told Daily Times. Khan has been in coma since he was brought to the hospital on November 2. After the earthquake Khan’s behaviour changed and a strong aftershock on November 2 caused severe psychological trauma, Dr Wadood said.

After the aftershock, Khan locked himself in the bedroom and tried to commit suicide. “We were in fields near his house when we heard a gunshot and found him lying on the ground with blood coming from his chest,” Zahid Muhammad, a family relative, told Daily Times. “We took him to the hospital. Hakim was traumatised and kept talking about the earthquake,” he said. Khan shot himself in the left side of his chest and it was by sheer luck that the bullet missed his heart. “There are entrance and exit wounds in his chest close to the heart,” Dr Wadood said. “It is common from people suffering from depression to take such an extreme step.” The AMC is still receiving survivors wounded in the quake.

The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) has set up a 100-bed field hospital behind the slightly damaged AMC. Army aviation helicopters are airlifting the wounded survivors to the AMC from the affected areas, Shafiqur Rehman, the AMC public relations officer, told Daily Times.

“Around 2,000 quake victims have been treated at the AMC since October 8,” Shafiq said. The hospital is fully operational now, he said. The IFRC hospital was assisting the AMC in treating the more serious cases, team leader Hildur Magnusdotter told Daily Times. She said the IFRC would continue to treat referral patients for the next six months. staff report

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