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-   -   My experience of helping an accident victim. UPDATE: He'll make a complete recovery! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/175579-my-experience-helping-accident-victim-update-hell-make-complete-recovery.html)

(Note: Mods, please move this thread to a suitable one if necessary :) )

May 1 around 9.15 PM, I was heading back home in my car after visiting my parents. At Chandni Chowk, there is a entry ramp which connects Pashan road with Mumbai-Bangalore Highway (Katraj Dehuroad Bypass). The road is a steep downward slope which is usually jam-packed with traffic on working days (Speed limit is mentioned 10 kmph). Since it was Sunday, there was not much traffic.

I was heading towards the Highway at about 30 kmph when suddenly a speeding autorickshaw overtook from my left at a high speed. I was about to tell my uncle who was sitting next to me how risky that is when suddenly it skidded swerved and flipped once completely and flipped again to land bottom up right at the exit point of highway.

Blue is my route, red is the auto-rickshaw's path


Since I was right behind the auto, I stopped on the road towards Bangalore to avoid traffic jam. I and my uncle got out and went back to the scene. My aunt was sitting in the car. People had managed to remove victims out of the toppled auto by then. It was all dark with no street lamps on (although there are). People had huddled around the victims. My heart sank when I broke the huddle and saw the victims. A woman was holding her 7-8 year old kid firmly and screaming loud 'somebody please save my boy', there was an old man bloodstained and completely lost but he was sitting on the road. Some light fell upon the boy's face, his face was covered in blood and he was not talking or moving.

Mine was the only car around (atleast that is what I saw at that time), so without thinking much I shouted to take the kid towards my car. His mom and bleeding kid were placed inside the car and then I took it to the hospital which is about 2.5 kms away from the scene. Usually I drive with a lot of concentration and remember most of my drive for some time, but this time I dont remember a single second of how I drove it to the hospital. All I remember is that the woman was wailing and crying real hard. My aunt and uncle telling her that everything is going to be fine.

We reached the hospital in less than five minutes, they pulled a stretcher and took the kid inside for treatment. Its there when I saw the kids face under the light, one portion of his forehead had deformed, his left eye closed and there was pencil sized hole in his forehead. His upper lip was torn and he was loosing a lot of blood. One hopeful thing was that his other eye was open and he was looking around, so he had gathered some senses by this time. His mom had not stopped crying, she held the nurse's feet and pleaded her heart out to save her child at any cost. The woman was not having a phone but she remembered her relatives' and her husband's number. In that confusion, she managed to tell some numbers. The hospital had by then called up a few of relatives and her husband's phone was answered by a witness and he said they are coming. It was then, when the woman revealed that her husband was the auto's driver and he said the brakes had failed while heading downwards on the slope before flipping over. Soon, few witnesses arrived at the hospital saying her Husband, the old man (possibly her father-in-law) and the little girl are safe with minor injuries and are being treated at another hospital on Paud road. It dawned upon me that there was a little girl as well involved in the mishap. There was just too much commotion and too little light to get a hang of the scene.

Being Sunday and the hospital being less equipped for such injuries, they did some first aid and gave blood and decided to shift the kid to a bigger one as they needed a specialist doctor for head injury who was not there (Sunday). While he was being treated the relatives arrived and the kid's mom had regained her senses, she was treated for a small bruise on her hand and face smeared with blood, but her saree was drenched with it. The ambulance arrived and left soon after the kid's head was stabilised. Good thing was the kid was looking around was doing some movements while transferred in the ambulance. The internal injuries were to be assessed at the bigger hospital with scans and better X-Rays.

Later,my uncle spoke to the doctor who treated him and said his injury is serious and that his skull had broken interally.

We left the hospital after the ambulance left, sombre and shaken. I had called my brother by then and he took my aunt and uncle home. I parked the car and had a look at the rear seat, boy, was it horrifying. I had never seen so much blood in my life. The rear seats, the handle, floor mats all splattered with blood. I left the car as it is as I had seen much for the day. Called my dad today and took her to the local car-wash where he did ok job. I still need to sanitize it.

My uncle tried calling on one of the numbers of the victims' relatives but they were busy with something and requested to call later. I just hope the kid is doing good. Posting some pictures of my car (Mods please delete if inappropriate)








As I think about it, the entire episode has made me much wiser. Here are some pointers :-

- Humans are the smartest and the dumbest of all creatures. Who else would risk his entire family with a faulty vehicle ? Sure enough, the man who was driving the auto could have known about how bad his vehicle is and taken some care while heading downwards on a steep slope with a fully loaded auto (the auto was also packed with a lots of 'bori'). Heck, auto driver as he is, he could have arranged another one from his friends if possible.

- Punekars using this road might know how dangerous this slope is. This is the second accident I saw on that same spot (first one involved a speeding bike which skidded, the man without wearing a helmet fell face first and became unconscious), despite the warning signs and speed limit advisories, people take no measures to slow their vehicles down. I've seen people exiting too fast trusting their vehicles.

- Call it pure luck or act of god, things could have been worse as people wait at that exact spot for private buses heading towards Bangalore and Goa. Its a bus stop of some sort. The auto stopped right before the railings, else it would have fallen down on Paud road. No one was crossing the intersection (exiting NH4 towards Paud road) It would have been a head on collision, more dangerous with a two wheeler involved. While the auto skidded, no two wheeler was ahead of it and the road was empty.

- World is not as bad as it is made out to be: I was expecting the hospital to be reluctant to start proceedings without paying first or calling the police (I am not aware of how that works in case of accidents). They took the patient swiftly and started operating without any delay.

- 4 out of 10 people are ready to help, 2 out those 4 are too overwhelmed by the chaos and blood to think. These four people are just about enough to help victims. It was good to see eyewitnesses showing up in hospital with the other victim's news and offering further help. There was a couple who was waiting in their car at the intersection where the auto flipped, they showed up as well and later followed the ambulance to the bigger hospital.

- This is the first time I was involved in such a incident. I am more of a cautious/calculating person, but have no idea how I shouted some people to help put them in my car and absolutely no idea how I drove them to the hospital. The woman and her kid switched off one part of my brain and I just followed some unknown orders from nowhere. I guess Sometimes it is better to act first than think.

- A mom's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. I cannot stop thinking about her cries and the way she had held her kid so close to herself while in the car. She didn't drink water when offered, saying 'Tell me my kid is fine first, till then I'm just going to sit'. No mother should undergo such kind of pain.

Taking this day off from office and writing the post, hoping to get some more information on how the kid is doing, I still am not feeling satisfied for whatever efforts people took. Thanks for reading.

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UPDATE on 7th May 2016:

Man, you did an amazing, amazing job - you're a kind hearted person. Many would've just drove away from the scene and forgotten about it.

It's a great act that you did, and thanks for sharing your experience here.

As someone who's been in his fair share of automotive accidents, I agree that the brain might sometimes switch off and things seem a blur in all the chaos and mayhem that ensues, but you still kept a cool head and helped people in genuine need - it takes guts to do that.

Since you're on leave today, might think about dropping into the hospital and see how the kid is doing.

The car looks dreadful, but it did it's part as well in the incident and you should be thankful for having a trustworthy steed that came to someone's assistance in time of drastic need.

Cheers to all you did, mate. Be proud. :thumbs up:thumbs up

NiInja, thank you for sharing this experience. Not many would have taken the trouble to take the victims to the hospital. Along with the folks that you mentioned in the post, you are also one of a kind. I sincerely hope there are more "human beings" like you on this planet.

Request you to update this thread as soon as you get an update on the boy's condition. I will keep the boy in my prayers. Hope he gets well soon.

:thumbs up Mate!! Nothing comes closer to saving a life. You are a good human and you should be proud of that.

I am from Pune and I do know this slope you are talking about. I am not sure if this is right to say but I have my doubts about the claims of break failure. In all probability, the auto driver could not judge the steepness of that slope and in turn failed to control the speed of his auto-rickshaw.

I hope the kids survives without any permanent damage. God bless the family!!!

Ninja - you did an admirable thing instead of the usual apathy shown by most people.
Proud of you and your presence of mind. Agree with all of the pointers you mentioned.
Hope the boy recovers completely. Our prayers are with him.

Hats off to you Ninja!!
How helpless we all feel in such situations, especially if it involves children. Wish the kid recovers and able to lead a normal life.

Dear Mr. Ninja, please accept my regards for the exemplary act of humanity shown by you during a trying situation.

I have personally seen autos, trucks etc., turning turtle in the middle of the road and I do admit that it is one of the most painful sight to the eye (and brain and heart as well). Such sights leave a state of panic / shock in the minds and may take quite some time to overcome. Clever individuals steer clear of such situations and avoid taking responsibility and more so to stay away from the rigorous follow up / grilling by law authorities that follow subsequently.

A selfless friend in person (or in disguise) can turn a life saver and thus a divine emissary in such circumstances. In this case, no doubt you were one.

Kudos to you mate for this exemplary act of humanity. You did a marvelous job of keeping calm under pressure and shifting the victims to hospital. BTW, if you can mention the name of the hospital or the doctors who treated them, it would go a long way to help others in future cases.

As an aside, I was on this route on 29th at precisely same time and were discussing how dangerous and accident prone this slope is.

Hey NiInja, you did good. That deathtrap is very close to my place and I completely agree that things are not helped by motorists behaving absolutely stupid on that stretch. I have seen cars and even buses come up the ramp in the wrong direction with scant regard for oncoming traffic. 2- and 3-wheelers are the worst offenders.

I don't buy for a minute that "brake failed" story- it seems that every time a bus or auto crashes in Pune that's the only excuse people come up with. But the guy's own kid is badly injured, so let's cut him some slack here.

Good job mate! Not everyone would have done the same :thumbs up

Perhaps you can try 3M for your car's interior. I think they charge 2-3k for a small hatchback (if I'm not mistaken yours is a Chevy Beat?) and they offer a 99.99% germ free interior cleaning where they tape up the buttons and knobs, foam up the whole thing including the ac vents, then vacuum, the whole shebang. You wont even find and grime or dirt on the hard textured plastics under the dash or in other nooks and crannies or any other odd area. Your car's interior will be as good as new (I mean nearly factory fresh better than when you drove it out of the dealership) and smelling great. I do this annually for my cars since I suffer from dust and pollen allergies. Highly recommended.

Well done Ninja !!

Your courage, presence of mind and willingness to help saved the day for that entire family. They will forever be grateful to you.

If possible, do get in touch with the family and give them the chance to say thanks.

I was once a victim and helped by a good Samaritan like yourself. It was 2002 and the rules for helping an accident victim then were not as friendly as they are today, so the couple dropped me to the hospital and once I was admitted, left without giving me and my family a chance to say thank you. I still wish for that closure....

Good work mate! Hats off to you!

Yes, the messy interiors of the car might cause a heartache for a few days, but I am sure the feeling of having saved a life is priceless. :thumbs up

May god bless you! Keep up the good work. :thumbs up

There are some things in life that cannot be described. Good to see that there are still people who have humanity left in them.

Hats off to you Ninja. That was a brave decision to carry the child to the hospital. You might have saved a life there.

The mentioned slope is bad especially for bikers. Hope that PMC puts some speed breakers there.

A very noble gesture done by you Nilnja. Usually when there is an accident you would just look & move on without helping, thats the general tendency thinking who would deal with the police later on. Hats of to you as you have saved some precious life.:thumbup:

Good job mate. I pray for the boys health.