Sushmita missed the 'golden hour'

Sushmita Patil, 19, was alive when she was being taken to hospitals after sustaining head injury in the car accident on Nice Road here on Thursday.

First, she was taken to Anand Nursing Home located on Magadi-Nice Road immediately after the accident. But she was refused treatment as the hospital did not have an ICU facility. Later, she was taken to Sri Lakshmi Multi-speciality Hospital, but was declared dead on the way to the hospital. According to Sushmita’s friend, the ambulance was also not well-equipped and had only an oxygen cylinder.

Her friend Anirudh Gurumurthy, who escaped with minor injuries in the accident, said: “I managed to come out through the back window and called my parents. I pulled out Akhil, Namratha and Sushmita from the car. Later, some friends took Sushmita to a hospital, but she was declared dead on the way,” he added.

“It was a normal day travelling to the college on Nice Road until a truck changed its lane suddenly. We were on the right lane of the road and the truck was moving on the left lane. All of a sudden, it started to move towards our car and Akhil, who was driving, lost control of the vehicle. The truck hit the front axle, which resulted in toppling of the car,” Anirudh added. Anirudh sustained minor injuries on his ear and a cut in the hand.

Akhil and Namratha, were treated at Anand Nursing Home. Later, Akhil was shifted to Pristine Hospital in Basaveshwarnagar. According to Dr H M Prasanna, chairman of the hospital, Akhil had sustained injuries on his elbow and he also had a slight head injury.

“He was unconscious when he arrived at the hospital, but later gained conciousness.”
According to Akhil’s father Arun, his son is still not aware of Sushmita’s death. “Akhil managed to narrate a few details about the accident and said that the car had toppled after hitting a truck.” The car belongs to Arun. Namratha sustained injuries on her knee and minor fracture in the rib.

Sushmita was a first year architecture student from RV College of Engineering. She was the daughter of Rajendra and Sudha Patil and granddaughter of R S Patil, former Member of Parliament and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, MLA of Davangere.

Sushmita’s father is the co-brother of Dr Sharan Patil of Sparsh Hospital.