A late evening phone call at 10pm got PDG Praveen Goyal, RID 3080, out of bed on August 19. Instantly, he started calling Rotarians… all over from Chandigarh to Rishikesh.
In that call, PDG Jeetendra Aneja from Bengaluru gave him shocking details of a road accident in which the parents of Sriram Manchukonda, a member of RC Vizianagaram, and his aunt were grievously injured during their pilgrimage in Rishikesh. It was a head-on collision between their car and an oncoming private bus.
Aneja sent Goyal the details of the mishap and names of the victims on a Rotarians WhatsApp group, along with a video clip he got from PDG M Venkateswara Rao, RID 3020. Rao had called Aneja seeking urgent help on behalf of his district’s Rotarian.
“I assured Aneja that all help will be provided to the patients as AIIMS-Rishikesh director Dr Meenu Singh is a member of our RC Chandigarh,” says Goyal. The victims — Srinivasa Manchukonda (80), his wife Nathamma (74) and Rajyalaxmi (75), aunt of Sriram — were admitted to this hospital by an ‘unknown’ cab driver who called Sriram and informed him about the mishap. The driver also sent him a video clip of the mangled car with his dazed parents in a state of utter shock, and arranged an ambulance which admitted the accident victims at the AIIMS.
Responding to Goyal’s late night call, Dr Meenu, a paediatrician, deputed a doctor in the Emergency and Trauma Care ward to examine the status of the ‘critically injured’ patients, and send her the details. “Within few hours, the health reports were made available to me, thanks to Dr Meenu,” recalls Goyal.
Sriram’s mother (Nathamma) was discharged from the hospital within eight hours of the accident. “I owe my lifelong gratitude to PDGs Praveen Goyal, Venkateswara Rao, Rama Rao, both from RID 3020, and Dr Meenu Singh, and other good Samaritans who helped to provide timely treatment to my parents and aunt,” says Sriram, unable to control his tears. Their car driver had a lucky escape with minor injuries.
When the deputed doctor wanted all the three critical patients to be admitted in the ICU, “I once again rang up Dr Meenu, and she organised it immediately,” says Goyal. Meanwhile, Sriram rushed to AIIMS-Rishikesh the next morning, and throughout his “agonising journey, I was updated about the medical conditions of my parents by RID 3080 DG Rita Kalra, a maternity doctor, and PDG Ajay Madan. They were in constant touch with me.”
Also, IPDG Ravi Prakash, a resident of Roorkee, sent a group of three Rotarians, all living in Rishikesh, to take care of the emergency needs of the patients, and “help Sriram in whatever way possible.”
However, despite the best medical help, “my father, Srinivasa, passed away on Aug 25, six days after the tragedy. He suffered multiple heart attacks, a fall-out of traumatic stress and organ complications due to the grievous nature of the injuries he sustained in the road accident,” he said.
From the time of the accident till the last rites of his father who was cremated in Vizianagaram, “I only saw God in the form of Rotarians… I am indebted to them for their invaluable service,” says Sriram, a Rotarian of 10 years. While his mother is safely back home, his aunt is still battling for life in the ICU.
In a touching message Usha Saboo, wife of PRIP Rajendra Saboo, says, “These Rotary stories need to be published so that its humane aspect is widely known and appreciated. May God keep giving us opportunities to serve more and more people.”