BHUBANESWAR : At a time when people either choose to turn mute spectators to road accidents or get busy recording an accident and posting it on social media instead of helping the victims, a teacher of Bargarh has turned a saviour for many.
Dibas Kumar Sahu, in his mid-30s, started the initiative to provide medical relief to accident victims after a scarring personal experience. He had a relative, who met with a serious accident but was sent back home after first aid in the hospital, six years back. Though the man had an internal brain injury, the doctors treating him at the hospital emergency did not deem it fit to carry out extensive tests and let him go.
“I had been to his house to pay a courtesy visit, but he could not recognise me. I decided to take him to hospital where the doctor suggested a CT scan, which confirmed internal haemorrhage. After a surgery his life could be saved, but a 12-hour delay further would have proved disastrous,” Dibas recalls. The incident in 2014 is still fresh in his mind as he describes how ignorance of the symptoms of road accident victims in the aftermath of any mishap could be fatal if not attended properly.
A native of Jokhipali village in Bargarh district, Dibas first rescued a road accident victim near Dubulabahal Chhack along Padmapur-Bijepur road on January 14, 2018. He contacted the 108 ambulance service, but the driver said that he could take him to nearby Padmapur hospital as per protocol. He then decided to hire an SUV and rushed the victim to the VIMSAR at Burla.
Since then, he has rescued scores of injured persons in the district, gaining appreciation of the State Transport Authority. “He has been selflessly serving the accident victims and has proposed to conduct road safety awareness programmes in his area. We welcome such initiatives and the STA will extend financial support,” Transport Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said.
During the lockdown, Dibas also came to the rescue of nearly 7,000 migrants. With the help of social media and voluntary organisations, he facilitated return of Odia migrants stranded in Southern India states, Uttar Pradesh and Goa to Balasore, Bhadrak, Bargarh, Balangir, Sonepur, Nuapada, Kalahandi and Kandhamal. His timely intervention made a train carrying around 1,000 migrants to revert back from Muzaffarpur in Bihar to Odisha. When lockdown led to closure of schools in his village, Dibas employed two youths by paying salary from his own pocket to teach about 50 students.