BENGALURU:The plan was to usher in Valentine’s Day in the streets of God’s Own country. But it all crashed just a day before. For Kamil and Alexandra Ryzczak (Ola), their month-long vacation to India took a traumatic turn when the Bengaluru-Ernakulam Intercity Express they were travelling in derailed on Friday morning.
“We reached India on February 2, our first stop was Mumbai. Then we proceeded to Kathmandu, Jaipur, Lucknow and then reached Bengaluru on Thursday,”said Kamil. The 33-year-old is injured in his left leg. “We spent a day in Bengaluru and on Friday, boarded a train to Cochin,” he said.
Kamil, though in pain, was restless and kept asking the doctors and railway authorities about his girlfriend Ola. “They took her to a different hospital. I don’t know how she is. Please bring her here,” he pleaded.
Ask him what he remembers from the accident and he says, “At first the train was swaying like in a video game. Then in a second, I saw a wall entering the train and I tried looking for Ola who was in the next seat. Then it was all a blur,” he said. Kamil said when he regained consciousness, he found himself trapped behind a huge metal door-like object. “That separated me and Ola and I saw people cutting through it to rescue us,” he added. After requests to railway authorities, Ola was brought to Sparsh Hospital in the Narayana Health City and the smile was back on Kamil’s face. But this too was short-lived.
The doctors informed him that Ola’s injuries were grievous in nature. “There was a lot of delay in bringing her to a specialist care. She has had a nerve explosion in her right leg and might have to get her leg amputated,” said a hospital staff.
A distraught Kamil was limping across to various doctors trying to understand the situation while Ola’s cries could be heard across the ward. “We were to leave on February 25. I don’t know what I will do now,” he said.
A frail old lady clad in a pink sari was crying loudly with her relatives trying hard to console her. She was the grandmother of Aman, the nine-year-old who died in the accident. The youngest to die, Aman was a Class 3 student at M S Convent in Bengaluru. Residents of Manorayana Palya in R T Nagar, he was accompanying his mother Sharmila to Kochi.
“Sharmila had been diagnosed with jaundice and the family wanted her to take traditional Kerala medicine in Kochi,” a relative said. While Sharmila sustained serious injuries, Aman died on the spot. “His sister Anu, who is 11, was supposed to go, but couldn’t because she would miss classes,” a relative said. “Aman who was very close to his mother and couldn’t stay without her asked if he could go,” she added. “We haven’t told Sharmila that Aman has passed away. Her condition is very critical,” the relative said.