Injured by fallen tree branch, girl dies after 701 days in a coma

A nine-year-old schoolgirl has died after lying in a coma for 701 days following a head injury caused by a tree branch fall accident.

Rachel Prisha was riding pillion on her father Y Raju’s scooter when a thick, dry branch of a roadside tree fell directly on her head on March 11, 2020. The tragedy unfolded on the busy TC Palya Main Road in Ramamurthy Nagar, East Bengaluru, at the precise moment Raju slowed down to cross a speed breaker.

Prisha was rushed to Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road, where doctors faced an uphill battle to save her.

Prisha soon went comatose and was kept in the ICU for almost a year before being shifted to the ward. She died on Tuesday.

The incident left her family devastated. Her father had to shutter a mobile phone shop he had opened just months before the accident. He and his wife had to visit the hospital daily to look after Prisha.

A family friend described Prisha as a cheerful girl who was a die-hard fan of Kannada actor Kichha Sudeep.

The-then mayor M Goutham Kumar and the-then BBMP commissioner B H AnilKumar visited the girl in hospital and announced that the civic body would bear the medical expenses.

A case of causing death by negligence was also registered at the jurisdictional KR Puram police station about the matter but it's not clear what came out of it.

The devastated family asked the authorities to ensure such incidents don’t recur. The BBMP promised to prune the tree branches but aborted the plan due to opposition from local residents who worshipped the tree.

Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy recently visited the girl in the hospital and wished her a speedy recovery. Following her death, he tweeted in Kannada: “I was hoping and praying that she would be normal soon. But my heart sank when I heard about her death. I stand with the family in this hour to grief and pray to God to give strength to the family to overcome the loss. The BBMP must ensure such incidents do not repeat due to its negligence.”