Milestone student Navid returns home after 97 days

Navid, a seventh-grade student of Milestone School and College in Uttara, who suffered severe burns in the Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crash, has finally returned home after 97 days of treatment. During this period, he underwent 36 surgeries and spent 22 days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). On Monday, he was discharged from the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Maruful Islam, joint director of the institute, confirmed the information. He said, “Navid sustained burns on 45 percent of his body in the devastating plane crash on July 21. He was transferred to the Burn Institute the following day from the CMH. His condition was so critical that the family was twice advised to prepare for bad news.”

He added that doctors never gave up on Navid’s treatment. The boy spent 22 days in the ICU, including 10 days on life support.

Navid was later kept in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) for 35 days and then in a cabin for 40 more days before being discharged on Monday.

Dr. Maruful Islam further said, “Navid underwent a total of 36 minor and major surgeries. Skin grafting was performed eight times. No other burn patient from the same incident required so many operations.”

Professor Dr. Nasir Uddin, director of the Burn Institute, stated that Navid’s lungs had filled with fluid after the accident. “He was treated on life support in a prone position, which was extremely challenging,” he said. Five other injured students from the same incident are still undergoing treatment at the institute.

The accident occurred at around 1:15 p.m. on July 21, when a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed onto the second floor of Milestone School and College in Uttara. At least 35 people were killed and 150 others injured in the accident, most of whom were students.

Khaborwala/TSN