Rohtak: After nearly two years in the paediatric intensive care unit, an eight-year-old boy from Sonipat district walked out of PGIMS Rohtak on Monday, triumphantly ending a 23-month-long fight for survival.




The child was just six when he was admitted to the hospital on Oct 5, 2024. He arrived unconscious with a high fever and was unable to move his hands and legs. His critical condition necessitated prolonged ventilator and oxygen support for nearly 23 months, doctors said.




After showing significant improvement, he was discharged on Monday. He now requires only minimal oxygen support and will remain under regular medical observation through follow-up visits, said Dr Kundan Mittal , senior professor, department of paediatrics, and incharge of the PICU (paediatric intensive care unit).




The discharge was an emotionally charged moment for the family, doctors and nursing staff, who had cared for him for nearly two years. A cake-cutting ceremony was organised inside the PICU, where the child had spent most of his hospital stay.




For his father, Sombeer Dahiya of Garhi Sisana village , the long hospitalisation meant putting his livelihood on hold. A taxi driver in Delhi and the family’s sole breadwinner, Dahiya gave up his job to remain at his son’s bedside. His wife, a homemaker, also stayed with the child throughout his hospitalisation.




“PGIMS became our second home. We have spent nearly two years here. When we brought our son here, he was unconscious and could not even move his hands and legs. Today, he is able to move his body. The doctors and nurses are no less than God for us,” Dahiya said.




He said the family would not have been able to bear the cost of such prolonged treatment in a private hospital. “I have never seen such care for a patient in a govt hospital. Had we been in a private hospital, perhaps everything we had would have been sold,” he said.




Dr Mittal said the child’s recovery involved prolonged critical care, along with regular physiotherapy and nutritional support . “Besides medical treatment, the child was provided with physiotherapy and nutritional support. We also tried to support the family financially as the father was the sole breadwinner and had to give up his work to remain with his son,” he said.




Family members said that over time, the child also developed a close bond with PICU staff. Nursing personnel said they saw him as family. They would bring home-cooked food for him and celebrate his birthday.




Dr HK Aggarwal , vice-chancellor of Pandit Bhagwat Dyal Sharma University of Health Sciences , Rohtak, who was present at the time of discharge, said witnessing a critically ill patient recover and return home was the highest form of happiness for a doctor.




He added that the child’s condition was stable and the medical team would continue to monitor him during follow-up visits.