Bengaluru tragedy: Man dies on roadside; Wife alleges hospitals denied treatment and passersby did not help

Bengaluru: A 34-year-old man lost his life on the city roads while he was on his way to the hospital after suffering a heart attack. A video of the victim lying on the road while his wife was begging for help from the passersby has gone viral. 

According to the victim's wife, they rushed on a two wheeler early in the morning of December 13 at around 3.30 am after the victim, Venkataramanan, complained of chest pain. 

However, they were denied treatment at two hospitals in the city and had met with an accident on the way to Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, the victim's wife Roopa R alleged.

“At the first hospital they said that they said the doctor was not available and redirected us to the second hospital. At the second hospital, they did an ECG and confirmed that my husband had suffered a heart attack. However, they did not provide any basic care and instead asked us to go to Jayadeva hospital,” she told DH.

After the accident, Roopa begged the passersby for at least 15 minutes to help her shift Venkataramanan to hospital. However, none of them helped till a cab driver stopped to check on them.

“He was in a lot of pain and hence was driving very fast to reach the hospital. When we fell down, he was alive. In fact, he was checking for three to five minutes if someone came. If any of the passerby had helped us immediately he would have definitely survived,” Roopa added.

At the third hospital where Venkatramanam was brought with the help of the cab driver, the hospital declared him dead.

The incident has left citizens in a shock, with many of them questioning medical negligence and poor response to the ailing man. 

DH reached out to the second hospital the couple had visited asking why they had failed to provide basic treatment to a heart attack patient. The hospital refuted the claims.

“As soon as a heart attack was confirmed, we gave him a loading dose. We provided him with all the basic care. However, we have no expertise in cardiac health. Hence, we asked them to shift to Jayadeva hospital. Since our ambulance was out attending a patient, we asked them to wait for a few minutes till we arranged an ambulance. However, they rushed away even without taking our prescription,” a representative from the hospital said.

Roopa, however, opined that her husband would have been alive if the hospital had given any basic treatment.

Venkataramanan worked as a mechanic and is survived by his wife, a five-year-old son and an 18 month old daughter. Amid the shock and the grief, the family has donated Venkataraman’s eyes.

“I wanted to donate his organs as well but the doctors said it was not possible,” Roopa said.