The excitement of a young fisherman in Canning on netting a big fish turned into horror within minutes on Friday morning when it knocked him in the chest and injured him severely.

The impact was so severe that Abdul Halim Gharami, 28, of Nikarihata in South 24-Parganas’ Canning, had to be rushed to the sub-divisional hospital, where he is being treated.

Hospital sources said the fisherman’s ribcage was injured.

“He was brought in unconscious. Though he has regained his sense, he has breathing troubles and chest pain. We have advised tests and kept him under observation,” a doctor said.

Local sources said trouble struck Abdul when he trapped a big catla, along with other varieties of fish, but could not drag the net to the shore of the pond.

“It was a big catla, which was heavy and restless inside the net. So he asked one of his family members to grab the net while he jumped into the pond and tried to hold the fish with his hands. The fish thrashed about and knocked Abdul on his chest who fainted and fell into the pond,” said Araf Gharami, Abdul’s father.

Abdul was rushed to the Canning sub-division hospital.

“The incident is very unusual. I can’t recall anyone getting hit by a fish and fainting,” one of Abdul’s relatives said.

A fisherman in Naihati, who runs a carp breeding farm, said: “Big catla fish are heavy and difficult to control. The trick is to let them get tired in the net itself. A blow on someone’s head by a big fish may turn fatal.”

The catla that injured Adbul slipped out of the net when he fainted.

Hence people could not confirm its weight.

Chest specialist Rumki Das, who is attached to the Ranaghat sub-division hospital in Nadai, confirmed that a big fish like catla could cause such a serious injury.

“It appears to be blunt force trauma caused by a knock by the fish on the chest. It halted the patient’s breathing process and made him faint. His ribs need to be checked. It also needs to be ascertained if an undiagnosed chest problem led the youth to faint,” the doctor said.