New Delhi bomb victim ‘feeling some numbness’ after surgery

The Israeli diplomat’s wife injured in the New Delhi bomb attack was recovering on Tuesday from surgery to remove shrapnel from her spine, but doctors expressed fear some damage may be permanent.

Israel’s channel 10 reported Tuesday evening that Tal Yehoshua Koren was reporting a feeling of some numbness in one of her legs, raising concerns that shrapnel in her back may have hit important nerves. Due to this fear, it was decided not to fly her to Israel just yet, so as not to cause further damage.

The Hindustan Times reported earlier Tuesday that Arun Bhanot, the doctor in charge of Koren’s treatment, said there was still some shrapnel in her body, but the major piece posing a threat to her spine was removed. Bhanot added that there was some nerve damage but he hoped she would soon show improvement.

Her condition was stable and she was conscious, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

Yehoshua Koren, who is the wife of an Israeli Defense Ministry representative in India, underwent surgery on her spinal chord on Monday night at the Primus hospital in New Delhi to remove shrapnel from injuries she sustained when a bomb attached to her car exploded. Hospital sources said the 41-year-old had recovered from the operation and was conscious. Israeli media sources reported that she had spoken with her husband and could recall the moment of the attack and her journey to the hospital.

According to the Mako website, Yehoshua Koren has been in India for the past four and a half years, working at the embassy. She and her 43-year-old husband, Alon, have two children, aged 13 and 7. Koren was on her way to pick up her children from school on Monday when the bomb detonated.