Few years ago I have read the above titled autobiography by Mr Nelson Mandela, a book which kept a lasting impact on me of the struggle and the inner strength Mr Mandela had to overcome the fight within and the fight outside which changed the history of the entire continent. We all go through the same fight for freedoms on all walks of life, this is a small writeup of what freedom struggle my young patient and I went through yesterday.

A young 19y old, full of dreams and energy, met with an horrible accident and banged his motorcycle to a standby truck breaking the middle of his neck, his pelvis opening like a book and a bone of his right hand shattered. The trauma was not that grievous and life threatening for him to become unconscious but at the same time heinous enough for him to lose power in his left hand, leg and control of his bladder. When I met the patient and the parents (both father and mother)…….the only question they had was how long would be his path to Freedom (Recovery). I assured all of them that as he is able to move his toes, the connectivity of the spinal cord is intact, we will do our best to fix the very unstable spine and pelvis; he will walk again for sure, but when- after a day, a week, a month, or a year …..only time will tell.

The broken neck was so badly damaged that a big fracture fragment was sitting over an important blood vessel which supplies a critical part of the brain. Any damage to the underlying blood supply could have an immediate on-table (intraoperative) effect or a long term repercussion which was continuously playing on my mind. It was such an unstable fracture that every moment while exposing the spine, inserting screws, me as a surgeon was worried that I don’t damage the neurology of the kid more than what he had presented. The surgery was to make him well, the parents have given me their full trust and faith to make their child normal again. The ordeal lasted for a long 90 minutes. My intentions were pure, my training was adequate, my trust in my own skills were absolutely crisp, I was the person selected to get the kid out of this unwarranted accidental misery. The fight between the pathology and the surgical accuracy with a huge turmoil in my mind was in the end rewarded with a highly successful surgery. The kid was out of danger and finally after 90 minutes I could breath normal again.

In this small snippet, Freedom represents Upliftment of the oppressed and struggle of Mr Mandela which lasted for more than three decades, freedom for the patient is his long road to recovery, when will he get rid of the pain, the intravenous lines, the sound of the intensive care monitors and be back on his feet- bubbling again the same way he was doing just a day ago. My freedom was me facing the pathology face to face and realising that a mistake in millimetres could cause a life or permanently send him to a wheelchair.

We all had our Long walk to Freedom and in the end we were all successful as the Purpose was far far bigger than the freedom itself.