Lalu Prasad Yadav might have bragged on Tuesday about even a child giving a Chak De to the Indian Railways. But hours later, on a Chennai-bound train from Bangalore, an epileptic suffered a severe attack and breathed his last, due to want of timely first aid and medical attention.
Deccan Herald reader Malathi Varadarajan, principal of Salonee School, shared with this newspaper the horrifying turn of events where her sexagenarian aunt had to travel quite a distance with her husband’s body.
Sampath Kumar and his wife Kamala, residents of Korattur, Chennai, had come to visit Malathi in Bangalore. They were on their way back home on the D-7 coach of Brindavan Express on Tuesday, when events took a tragic turn.
After a one-and-a-half hour delay, the train left Bangalore City and had reached Jolarpet at about 6:55 pm, when Sampath Kumar began complaining of suffocation. Kamala gave him some water to sip, but after a few minutes, he had an epileptic attack. Other passengers chipped in and tried calling the TTE, who was of little help. There was no first aid kit available on the train. After a prolonged bout of convulsions, Sampath Kumar lost consciousness.
No first aid
The train, meanwhile, chugged on. All the passengers in the compartment tried their best to help the old couple; they went in search of the reservation chart to look for any doctor on the train. There was none. Though alerted, railway authorities failed to arrange for a doctor at the next station, Arakkonam, as well.
With no help forthcoming, some passengers decided to take things into their hands. They shifted Sampath Kumar to the Perambur railway hospital close to the Central station. The doctors declared him brought dead.
Lalu’s braggadocio during the budget presentation and the harsh reality has saddened Malathi. “Thousands of crores might be churned out by the railways, but life is dirt cheap for the department. Isn't it time to equip railway stations and long distance trains with sufficient medical facilities?” she wonders. But is Lalu listening?
when Raiways boost of churnning huge Profits ,shame to say no First aid was available ,atleast medical attention could have been provided at Arakonam to save our friend Mr.Sampath's precious life,our heartfelt condolences to madame , Vaishnavi and family members.
by Suma on 2/26/2008 10:03:57 PM
It was very disheartening to read this tragedy. It is high time, our Indian Railways need a dedicated Doctor or Nurse (24x7) who can help passengers in crisis until they get proper medical aid. This might be an additional cost for the Railways, But certainly not dearer than a human life.
