Doctor hitches ride in truck and bike to reach heart attack patient

During the recent floods, Dr Rockey Katheria, a cardiologist at Manipal Hospitals, had to board a truck and hitch a two-wheeler ride to attend to a heart attack patient.

Dr Katheria lives in Bellandur, which was severely affected by the floods on September 5. He had to cancel his OPD appointments for the day as all three routes from Bellandur to the hospital in Varthur were flooded.

But at 11 am, Dr Katheria received a call from the emergency room about a 64-year-old man who had a heart attack. He gave instructions regarding medicines for the patient and tried to reach the hospital again via Yemalur-Marathahalli. But the 200-metre stretch was completely flooded.

"I saw a truck helping people cross. I was in my hospital scrubs and told them it was a medical emergency. They made room for me and I crossed the stretch," the doctor said. "Hiring a cab next would have taken around 20 minutes. So, I hitched a ride on a policemen's two-wheeler to reach the hospital."

On reaching the hospital, Dr Katheria soon performed an angioplasty on the patient, who was discharged three days later.