IMRAN KHAN RECOVERING IN HOSPITAL AFTER RALLY FALL.
IMRAN KHAN RECOVERING IN
HOSPITAL AFTER RALLY FALL.
Leading Pakistani politician Imran Khan is recuperating in hospital after falling off a makeshift lift that was taking him onto a stage at an election rally in Lahore.
Doctors say that the former cricketer received stitches in the head and treatment for injuries to his spine.
But they say that his spinal cord has not been seriously damaged and he has been moved out of intensive care.
Meanwhile there has been more violence ahead of the elections.
At least three people have been killed and about 25 injured - including six policemen - in a suicide bombing outside a police station in the Bannu region of north-western Pakistan.
Police said that it was not clear if the target was the police station itself or a nearby rally being held by the Awami National Party (ANP).
The Pakistani Taliban have threatened to prevent the ANP, as well the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the MQM party, from conducting their election campaigns because they are considered by the militants to be too liberal.
Bed rest
Mr Khan - who had a total of 15 stitches in his head and suffered two minor back fractures - was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of fall which may have helped protect him from more serious injury, his family said on Wednesday.
Shaukat Khanum Memorial hospital Director Shaukat Sultan said that Mr Khan suffered minor fractures in the left third rib and three vertebrae of the backbone - one near the neck and two near the middle of the backbone.
Medics say that the fractures can easily heal, but require complete bed rest and minimum movement for between three to six weeks.
"The important thing is that the spinal canal is intact and Mr Khan is in full control of his limbs and his body functions." Dr Sultan said.
He said that it was only by the "grace of God" that Mr Khan - who has now been transferred from intensive care to a private room - had not suffered any "neurological compromises".
Dr Sultan did not say when it would be possible for Mr Khan to resume his normal life - only that he would "definitely" require bed rest for the next couple of days and several scans.
"After that we'll review the situation: We may carry out some scans again to reassess the situation and make a decision about the duration of his rest," he said.
"If Mr Khan wishes to address a rally, it is up to him but we will make sure that his treatment team will have given him permission."
In a televised statement from his hospital bed on Tuesday night, Mr Khan told his supporters that the election was their fight, not his. He urged voters to decide on polling day this Saturday whether they wanted to make a "new Pakistan".
"The people should exert full force on 11 May to get their lives changed," he said.
Nawaz Sharif, the man widely seen as the frontrunner to be the next prime minister, has sent his sympathies to Mr Khan and cancelled his election appearances for Wednesday.
Mr Khan is being treated at the cancer hospital in Lahore he arranged to be built after his mother's death.
Pakistan elections 11 May 2013
- Polling stations open from 8am to 5pm local time. There are 86,189,802 registered voters - 48,592,387 men and 37,597,415 women
- Five thousand candidates will be standing for 342-seat National Assembly, 272 of which are directly elected. There are 11,692 Provincial Assembly candidates
- Fifty-one candidates are vying for the NA-48 constituency seat in Islamabad, the highest number in the country.
- More than 600,000 security personnel including 50,000 troops will be deployed to guard against militant attacks
- There are more than 73,000 polling stations - 20,000 of which have been earmarked as a security risk
- Five security personnel will be stationed at each polling station, with up to double that number at those facing the gravest security threats
- Polls will mark the first time that a civilian government has completed a full five-year term and handed over to an elected successor
Punishing schedule
Mr Khan's supporters have held a vigil outside the hospital where he is being treated
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that it is unclear whether the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader will take the advice to rest.
Mr Khan's supporters have held a vigil outside the hospital where he is being treated
His plan had been to keep up his punishing schedule of election rallies in these final two days of official campaigning.
Dramatic television pictures from Tuesday's campaign rally showed Mr Khan falling about 5m (15ft) from the lift platform together with several others, some of whom appeared to land on top of him.
A dazed and bloodied Mr Khan was later seen being carried away by supporters to a vehicle which drove him to hospital.
Hundreds of people remain outside the hospital awaiting more news of his condition. Many chanted "Long live Imran Khan".
Former Pakistan cricketers Shahid Afridi and Inzamam-ul-Haq were among those who visited him in hospital on Wednesday.
The PTI leader has been campaigning relentlessly in the run-up to Saturday's poll and briefly collapsed on stage earlier this week.
Mr Khan is one of the key candidates in the election, and the PTI appears to have been gaining momentum.
0 comments: