Accident survivor Krishan Lal organisers charity concert in aid of Red Cross
On Australia Day 2017, Krishan Lal collided head-on with a truck on a remote part of Oxley Highway, about 100kms away from Port Macquarie (the closest point of help). Flung to the side of the road, sustaining multiple life-threatening injuries: sliced femoral arteries on both legs, shattered right femur, shattered right knee, multiple breaks of the tibia and fibula in both legs, shattered left patella, torn left shoulder blade, torn left chest muscle and torn left side of his back, Krishan had only minutes to live. As this was a remote area of the highway, there was no cell phone reception or hospital nearby and there seemed little hope of survival. However, as luck would have it an angel in the form of Orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Max, showed up just in time. Re-breaking Krishan’s femur bone, without any pain medication, Max was able to control the bleeding long enough for Krishan to be airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle some 380kms away.
While, Krishan made it to the hospital, he had lost a lot of blood, and it was the blood transfusion that saved him. Through the gruelling nine and a half (9.5) hours surgery, Krishan’s bones in his right leg from the thigh bone all the way down to the ankle, as well as his left leg from the knee to the ankle were all replaced with titanium. He was also given 1.5 litres of blood—thanks to Red Cross blood donors—that saw him live.
After months and months of rehab, fighting through the agonising pain and the emotional turmoil, Krishan learned to walk again, defying doctors’ predications that it would ever be a possibility. And while he still fights the constant pain, and long-term damage to his nerves in both his legs, he has never forgotten the unknown faces, whose generosity in donating their blood, helped save his life and that of countless others. As a way of thanking them and the Australian Red Cross, Krishan and his good friend, Hela Ebrahimi, are organising a free Red Cross—Concert Under the Stars charity event for the whole family at Ettamogah Hotel in Kellyville on Saturday, 25 May.
“I just want to repay the Red Cross for the lifesaving blood donations I received following the accident,” says Krishan, a local resident of Woodcroft.
Krishan has been involved with the Australian Red Cross for many years donating blood, bone marrow and plasma. It’s a charity he feels truly close to, especially after his near-death experience, where it all came full circle.
“The Australian Red Cross supports and empowers people and communities to help reduce suffering across Australia (and internationally) through the power of humanity and unity,” says Krishan.
For more details click here. Facebook event link click here.
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