How three citizens saved lives

BENGALURU: As laws evolve and police and hospitals talk about the need for the public to step forward to help accident victims, more good Samaritans are saving lives. Three of them share their experiences with TOI
Rajamma, 45, was in a hurry to reach her village of Eshwara Gowdanahalli in rural Bengaluru, and didn't think twice before jumping onto the train as it was pulling out of Nayandahalli railway station a few months ago.She slipped and fell, grievously injuring herself. While she lay on the platfor m in pain, no one came forward to help her.
That was until MS Veena, 48, a music teacher from Nagarbhavi, spotted her. She wrapped Rajam m a 's i n jured legs in a shawl, picked up t he sev ered limbs and put them in a plastic bag, gave Rajamma water and took her to the hospital. “I wasn't scared about dealing with so much blood. I was shocked to see bystanders taking photos and videos instead of helping the victim,“ said Veena, who received the first of the Good Samaritan Awards 2016, organised by Columbia Asia Hospitals in association with The Times of India and Bengaluru Traffic Police.
Today, Rajamma is fit and back at work, though she needs a walker to move around. Her family believes that Veena gave Rajamma a new lease of life, and saved her children from becoming motherless. Veena continues to help Rajamma and her family, and recently gave her a job as well.
“It is easy to ignore a person when he or she is in trouble. Once you have the courage to lend a helping hand, it changes your life along with the life of the victim,“ said Veena. She is among the rare Good Sa maritans who step in to help people in dire need after road accidents.
Salome Jayakumar, 42, a resident of Lingarajapuram and an employee of Baldwin Boys' High School, recently found a new brother -Ravedendra, 40, an airbus designer who lives in Hebbal. They were strangers till an accident changed their lives a few months ago. Ravedendra's bike hit another vehicle and he was left injured on Lazar Road. Salome and her daughter Sandra Chrisilda, a student at St Joseph's College, took a minute to get over their shock before rushing to his aid.
“I was riding to work with my daughter when the accident occurred. I saw a man lying on the ground. I took out my bottle and gave him some water, and found that he could recall nothing. I made him sit up, pulled out his mobile phone and asked my daughter to call his family. She started calling all the numbers on the log and luckily we got his wife within a few minutes,“ said Salome.
As most passersby refused to help, the mother and daughter flagged down an auto and Sandra took Ravedendra to a hospital while Salome followed them on her bike. “All I was thinking was that we had to save this person's life,“ she said. She said she'd been moved by the video of the Nelamangala accident victim Harish, who lay bleeding on the road without anyone stopping to help him. “His cry for water and help touched me. And his mother's statement, `If my son was taken to the hospital 30 minutes earlier, he could have survived', made an impact on me,“ she said.
After going to three hospitals, Salome managed to admit the victim and his treatment be gan.After three days in the ICU, Ravedendra was back from the brink and had recovered from his critical injuries.
Apart from saving his life, Salome went back to the accident spot in the evening and collected his bike keys, helmet, 50 grams of gold and the eight bank cards he was carrying. She too was awarded the Good Samaritan Award 2016.
When Kaveriamma D, a bank employee, and her husband, Dinesh Ponappa, decided to take a break in Kodagu district, they didn't think it would be a lifechanging experience. On their way there, the couple spotted Rani, 60, crying and asking vehicles to stop and help her take her grandson who was injured after their car met with an accident.
“We found a crowd staring at the victims without helping. My husband asked me to call an ambulance, but we couldn't get one. So we decided to take the child, grandmother and the injured cabbie to the nearest hospital.We called the police on 100, informed them about the accident and told them we were taking the victims to the nearby health centre,“ said Kaveriamma, 42.
The nearest health centre did not have facilities to treat emergency cases, so Kaveriamma and Ponappa called the victims' families and said they were taking them to a private hospital. “I am glad all of them are doing fine and have recovered from injuries,“ said Kaveri amma.