I need my character to be attacked in an alley. The attacker stabs him five times in the gut and takes off leaving him there to die. He is rescued by a stranger who finds him when he's fading in out of consciousness. What I need to know is how long will it take for him to recover and be released from the hospital? Seeing that he was stabbed in the gut, I assume there is some serious intestinal injuries. Would this keep him from eating or anything for a while? What sort of physical therapy might he go through afterwards? Also, he goes into cardiac arrest, at some point, so how might that effect this all? I, also, wanted the guy who called an ambulance to meet the MC in the hospital after he has recovered, so that they can form a friendship later, but this guy is a stranger. Would he be allowed to even visit him?
This may help for the first questions you have: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2036859-overview I would assume they would have a colostomy bag for a duration until deemed healed enough to have solid foods, and would be given IV nutrients (Banana Bag) and saline to keep them hydrated. So think of them being in this state for more than 10 days at least, perhaps somebody with more applicable knowledge on the subject can share their expertise with you. Not sure about the cardiac arrest having a factor on the other trauma, but if it takes a fair length of time to revive him, he could suffer brain damage. Assuming that the event is caused by going into shock (or mass blood loss).
That depends on the physique of your MC, what he was stabbed with, and how recovered you want him to be. Heavier people are better at taking injuries because body fat is surprisingly good at protecting the body. Though if the injuries injured any of his core muscles, then he could probably be out of the hospital in a couple of weeks, but need to convalesce at home for a couple of months, though full recovery could be a year or two away. The hospital staff would probably ask your MC first to see if he was okay with it, but if he didn't have a problem with it, then I doubt they would unless your MC was in critical care at the time. This is regarding pretty much only the physical injuries, Cardiac Arrest is pretty complicated and can have a few different causes, so if you know anyone that works as a medical professional, they'd probably be the best person to ask.
MC is a little guy. He lives in the UK, but is studying in America, currently. I was hoping I could keep him in America because he makes some new friends and his relationship with them is vital to the story. I wouldn't need to send him back to the UK, would I? Thanks for the reply!
I imagine most doctors would advise against a lot of travel especially given the injuries, so I doubt they'd send him back to the UK, but he'd better hope he has some decent health insurance.
I'm reeling from the fact that he's stabbed five times in the gut. Is five really necessary? If I was reading that, I'd find it hard to believe he survived. Just one stab wound in the wrong place can lead to a quick death, and surely if he was stabbed five times, it would be a miracle for one of those stabs not to hit him somewhere that would end him in minutes. https://www.quora.com/How-long-does-it-take-to-die-from-a-stab-wound-to-the-stomach There are lots and lots of answers in that link, and despite the fact that the question is about dying, you may find their talk about stab injuries in the gut useful. There are probably more professional sources out there, too.
It doesn't necessarily have to be five, I guess. I wanted it to be a few times though just for dramatic reasons, not for anything that's really necessary. Plus I wanted him to feel like he's really going to die (although I guess one stab can have the same effect). I've heard a real life story of a woman who was stabbed forty times and lived, so I don't think it's impossible, but I see what you're saying. Thanks for your reply and the link, btw!
That. The more stab wounds the more likely the mc knew the attacker or for whatever reason the attacker had it out for them. The mc's physical stature would determine a lot of the damage taken, as stated above. I personally knew someone that was shot by police 25 times and had 45 holes. He was so fat that none of the bullets hit anything important, and none of them broke apart. I have also know many that have been stabbed multiple times (dozens of stab wounds) and never got medical help and are fine, while others got stabbed once or twice and died. Do some research on prison stabbings- how they work, how they are done, etc.
Also, he goes into cardiac arrest, at some point, so how might that effect this all? Cardiac arrest from blunt force trauma typically has less than a 1% chance of survivability. Something to keep in mind. Any puncture wound to the abdomen could seriously mess up a persons world and require major surgery. Or the wounds could be more superficial and not as dire. I work as a paramedic and my sister is a charge nurse in a rehab/intensive care unit. If you can narrow down how severe you want the injuries to be, I could get you a realistic time frame for recovery and rehab.
It depends on where he was stabbed and what was injured in the process. You can get stabbed in certain portions of the gut and walk out of the hospital shortly after whereas if intestines were perforated or a vital organ was perforated then you're looking at a death sentence. Given that the main character is a smaller guy then I would make the amount of stabbings smaller and nix the cardiac arrest. To have him survive five wounds and heart trauma would be unbelievable. I'd find medical professionals that are willing to talk about it. I'll be bothering my dad further because he's a medical professional about what may or may not happen; one of our favorite past times is analyzing wounds in documentaries and stories. Research online about different types of stabbings would also be beneficial.
