Air India Crash: Mother Donates Skin To 8-Month-Old For Grafting Surgery
For 8-month-old Dhyaansh, the youngest victim of the June 12 Air India plane crash, his mother not only turned a saviour when she rescued him from the on ground crash fire but also provided her skin for grafts to treat his deep burn wounds.
The child, who suffered 36 per cent burns, is on the road to recovery as the skin of his mother, who also sustained 25 per cent burns, used for grafts helped in healing his wounds, as per doctors.
Skin grafts involve transplanting healthy skin to cover wounds, burns or areas damaged by surgery or disease and promote tissue growth to help a person heal.
The infant and his mother have been discharged from a private hospital here following five weeks of intensive treatment and plastic surgery to restore the skin damaged due to fire, doctors said on Monday.
The child's own skin along with his mother's skin grafts were used to treat his third-degree burn wounds, said Dr Rutvij Parikh, consultant plastic surgeon at the KD Hospital.
When the Air India 171 plane crashed into the BJ Medical College's hostel-cum residential complex here on June 12, Manisha Kachhadiya and her son Dhyaansh were in one of the buildings affected by the crash.
Dhyaansh's father Kapil Kachhadiya is pursuing his super-speciality MCh degree course in urology at the BJ Medical College attached with the Civil Hospital.
At the time of the crash, he was at the hospital while his wife and son were in their allotted quarter.
Both of them suffered burn injuries in the horrific tragedy, which claimed 260 lives, including 241 persons on board the aircraft and others on the ground.
The magnitude of the crash and subsequent fire was such that despite being inside a flat, the heat caused burn injuries to Manisha, a homeopath, and Dhyaansh, said Kapil Kachhadiya.
He said when the crash occurred, Manisha suffered injuries, but she picked up their son and managed to come out of the building.
After taking primary treatment at the Civil Hospital, both were rushed to the KD Hospital the same day in view of their severe burn injuries, said Dr Parth Desai, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the private medical facility.
According to Parikh, Manisha had suffered 25 per cent burns on her arms, face and legs, while the infant suffered 36 per cent burns on his face and other body parts.
"Since some wounds were deep due to third-degree burns suffered by both the mother and son, we needed to perform the skin grafting procedure to cover those wounds," he said.
"In this procedure, we take a thin layer of skin and graft it on the wound to cover it. The place from where the skin is taken gets healed with time and a new skin eventually covers it," said Parikh.
First, Manisha's own skin was grafted to heal her wounds, said Parikh, who performed the surgeries at the KD Hospital.
Subsequently, Parikh took the skin of Manisha as well as Dhyaansh to cover his burn injuries, the plastic surgeon said.
"To cover Dhyaansh's wounds, we needed more skin because infants do not have much skin on their body. Thus, we used both Manisha and his skin to cover his wounds. Usually, a mother's skin is preferred in such cases," he said.
"Both eventually recovered and were discharged a week back after five weeks of intensive treatment," Parikh said.
Apart from the mother-son duo, four other patients, all medical students of the BJ Medical College, were treated at the KD Hospital, Desai said.
"A total of six patients, including the mother-son duo, were admitted to our hospital after getting injured in the plane crash. Among the four medical students, one had a fracture while another had a facial injury. But, the most complicated case was of this mother-son duo," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
5 days ago
- India Today
‘We look up each time a plane takes off': Inside Ground Zero of Air India crash
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated August 4, 2025)For Dr Nisha Prajapati, the sound of an airplane flying overhead every few minutes used to be a 'privilege'. That pure response became impossible after June 12, when Air India Flight 171 crashed into her universe: the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College (BJMC). Now, every time the sound of an aircraft taking off fills the OPD, the trauma is relived. Scared glances are momentarily exchanged. 'But the moment passes, and we break out into laughter, with lame jokes about our fears. That's our coping mechanism,' says Dr professor of psychiatry at BJMC, she's in a good place to talk about a bad thing. 'The campus is still processing grief. We talk about the tragedy all the time,' she says. In the end, the body count on the ground totalled 19; four students were among them. Classes were suspended for 11 days after the incident. On June 23, 'normal' life was restarted after a prayer meet. Three days later, optional prelims exams were held; all except one student took the exam. University exams starting August 1 will continue on schedule as they believe routine will help students recover. 'We expect PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) to surface in unexpected ways in the coming months,' says the doctor. The mess destroyed by the crash served 1,500 students. In June-end, it was temporarily relocated, close to the crash site, in the boys' hostel. Again, a small religious ceremony preceded it—something to soothe the nerves, even if the memory of burning bodies that students, staff and faculty witnessed on that ill-fated Thursday will likely linger in their psyche. For three weeks after that, resident doctors also had to counsel the grief-torn relatives of passengers, through their harrowing wait for charred body parts from the debris to return from DNA analysis. 'Final year students are used to dead bodies. They've worked on post-mortems. But the first and second year students were badly affected,' says Dr Kavin Kotadiya, a final-year intern doctor. 'We didn't let the four whose roommates died return to their empty rooms. We shifted them. Many students went home for a fortnight, but are now gradually resuming routine,' he a week after June 12, BJMC dean Dr Minakshi Parikh's office hosted state ministers and bureaucrats. Now she gently marvels at the resilience of the college community. There have been some murmurs from parents about whether the college should be shifted, but Dr Parikh says not a single student has moved out of the hostel. THE HEALING'When classes resumed, the psychiatry faculty members collectively addressed over 200 students to educate them about trauma and grief: the cycle of denial, anger, depression and acceptance,' she says. They are observing students closely and will reach out individually if symptoms of PTSD takes a toll on the care-givers too. 'Many of us have intense flashes of the burning aircraft and body parts; the dry empty eyes of a man who lost his wife, mother and daughter. But we all come back everyday, because this is our life,' says Dr Prajapati. The source of their trauma is never out of sight, nor out of mind. Bang in the centre of their universe, there lies the crash site, dark and impenetrable, guarded round-the-clock by local police. Life is taking wing amidst that, tremulously. 'We look up every time an aircraft takes off,' says Dr to India Today Magazine- EndsTune InMust Watch
NDTV
28-07-2025
- NDTV
Air India Crash: Mother Donates Skin To 8-Month-Old For Grafting Surgery
Ahmedabad: For 8-month-old Dhyaansh, the youngest victim of the June 12 Air India plane crash, his mother not only turned a saviour when she rescued him from the on ground crash fire but also provided her skin for grafts to treat his deep burn wounds. The child, who suffered 36 per cent burns, is on the road to recovery as the skin of his mother, who also sustained 25 per cent burns, used for grafts helped in healing his wounds, as per doctors. Skin grafts involve transplanting healthy skin to cover wounds, burns or areas damaged by surgery or disease and promote tissue growth to help a person heal. The infant and his mother have been discharged from a private hospital here following five weeks of intensive treatment and plastic surgery to restore the skin damaged due to fire, doctors said on Monday. The child's own skin along with his mother's skin grafts were used to treat his third-degree burn wounds, said Dr Rutvij Parikh, consultant plastic surgeon at the KD Hospital. When the Air India 171 plane crashed into the BJ Medical College's hostel-cum residential complex here on June 12, Manisha Kachhadiya and her son Dhyaansh were in one of the buildings affected by the crash. Dhyaansh's father Kapil Kachhadiya is pursuing his super-speciality MCh degree course in urology at the BJ Medical College attached with the Civil Hospital. At the time of the crash, he was at the hospital while his wife and son were in their allotted quarter. Both of them suffered burn injuries in the horrific tragedy, which claimed 260 lives, including 241 persons on board the aircraft and others on the ground. The magnitude of the crash and subsequent fire was such that despite being inside a flat, the heat caused burn injuries to Manisha, a homeopath, and Dhyaansh, said Kapil Kachhadiya. He said when the crash occurred, Manisha suffered injuries, but she picked up their son and managed to come out of the building. After taking primary treatment at the Civil Hospital, both were rushed to the KD Hospital the same day in view of their severe burn injuries, said Dr Parth Desai, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the private medical facility. According to Parikh, Manisha had suffered 25 per cent burns on her arms, face and legs, while the infant suffered 36 per cent burns on his face and other body parts. "Since some wounds were deep due to third-degree burns suffered by both the mother and son, we needed to perform the skin grafting procedure to cover those wounds," he said. "In this procedure, we take a thin layer of skin and graft it on the wound to cover it. The place from where the skin is taken gets healed with time and a new skin eventually covers it," said Parikh. First, Manisha's own skin was grafted to heal her wounds, said Parikh, who performed the surgeries at the KD Hospital. Subsequently, Parikh took the skin of Manisha as well as Dhyaansh to cover his burn injuries, the plastic surgeon said. "To cover Dhyaansh's wounds, we needed more skin because infants do not have much skin on their body. Thus, we used both Manisha and his skin to cover his wounds. Usually, a mother's skin is preferred in such cases," he said. "Both eventually recovered and were discharged a week back after five weeks of intensive treatment," Parikh said. Apart from the mother-son duo, four other patients, all medical students of the BJ Medical College, were treated at the KD Hospital, Desai said. "A total of six patients, including the mother-son duo, were admitted to our hospital after getting injured in the plane crash. Among the four medical students, one had a fracture while another had a facial injury. But, the most complicated case was of this mother-son duo," he added. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
India Today
28-07-2025
- India Today
With mother as shield and skin, 8-month-old Air India crash victim survives
Manisha Kachhadiya shielded her eight-month-old son, Dhyaansh, with her body from the flames as Air India's IC171 crashed into BJ Medical College residential quarters in Ahmedabad on June 12, killing 260 people. Despite the searing heat and thick smoke, her only instinct was to protect her infant son, who had turned out to be the youngest survivor of the air crash. Manisha not only shielded Dhyaansh that day, but as both fought burn injuries, the mother gave her skin as a shield to the 8-month-old. In a heart-warming story of survival from the Boeing 787-8 crash in Ahmedabad, Manisha and Dhyaansh were discharged from the hospital last is the son of Manisha and Kapil Kachhadiya, a super-speciality MCh student in urology at BJ Medical College. Kapil was on duty at the hospital when the plane crashed into the hostel on June told PTI that when the plane crashed, Manisha suffered injuries, but her priority was to save their son."There was a blackout for a second and then our residence was filled with heat," Manisha told The Times of India. At that terrifying moment, she grabbed her son and ran. Thick smoke and flames made it nearly impossible to see, and the heat left both mother and child with serious burns."There was a moment I thought we would not make it out. But I had to, for my child. We have both been through pain I cannot put into words," Manish sustained 25% burns to her face and hands. Dhyaansh suffered 36% burns across his face, both arms, chest, and were rushed to KD Hospital, where Dhyaansh was immediately admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The infant required ventilator support to breathe, along with fluid resuscitation, blood transfusion, and highly specialised care for his INDIA CRASH AND A MOTHER'S INSTINCTIVE COURAGEThe child's recovery, doctors said, was medically complex due to his of the most crucial parts of his treatment was that when skin grafts were required to help heal his wounds, his mother offered her own. Manisha donated her skin to her son, becoming, quite literally, his shield once Adit Desai, managing director of KD Hospital, described the case as deeply moving."It was deeply touching because of the mother's instinctive courage to save her child. From a medical standpoint, every department came together to ensure the best possible outcome," Desai told The Times of added that the hospital provided free treatment to six patients affected by the AI171 aeroplane surgeon Dr Rutvij Parikh explained to the newspaper how the medical team approached treating the child's burn injuries with the utmost child's own skin and his mother's skin grafts were used to treat the burn wounds. The patient's age was a major factor. We had to make sure the wounds did not get infected and that his growth would be normal. The recovery of the child and mother has been satisfactory."FATHER PLAYED A CRITICAL ROLE IN SON'S RECOVERY TOOThe father, Kapil, himself a medical professional, played a critical role in his son's recovery."Dr Kapil's involvement as a father helped enormously. As a medical professional himself, he often made sure the dressings were done properly, even in the middle of the night," Dr Parikh told The Times of team of doctors who treated the mother and child included Dr Snehal Patel, Dr Tushar Patel, and Dr Mansi Dandnaik, according to the child's condition was complicated by the fact that blood had rushed into one side of his lungs due to the trauma."He was kept on ventilatory support, and an intercostal drainage tube was inserted until we achieved good lung expansion," said Dr Snehal five weeks of intensive treatment and care, both Manisha and Dhyaansh have now been discharged from the hospital. This mother's love defied both fire and fate to save her son's life.- EndsTune InMust Watch
