KOCHI: The journey in a KSRTC bus turned nightmarish for a 43-year-old native of Thoppumpady on Saturday. Shyamala, who was on her way back home at Kochupally after picking up her son after a football coaching class from Thevara, met with a horrendous accident due to the negligence of KSRTC employees on Saturday morning.
As Shyamala tried to step out, the bus started moving forward, and she lost her balance and was thrown to the road. Shyamala fell unconscious. “My son and I got inside a Muvattupuzha-Fort Kochi AC Volvo bus from Thevara. As we reached Kochupally, the bus slowed down and the door opened. My son’s bag was in my left hand. The bus started moving when one of my legs was on the road. I was thrown to the road and the impact was on the left side. I went completely blank as I lost my consciousness,” said Shyamala.
She has fractures on her shoulder, elbow and hip. As she had lost unconscious, motorists in many vehicles were reluctant to take her to the hospital assuming she was dead. “She didn’t regain consciousness even after water was sprinkled on her face. As the vehicles weren’t stopping, it took some time to reach the hospital. Finally, a woman auto driver stopped and she was taken to Karuvelipady Government Hospital,” said her husband Babu Chinnappan. She was later shifted to Ernakulam General Hospital as her fractures were severe.
At her home in Pratheeksha Nagar, Shyamala is still suffering from the trauma caused by the incident. “My body aches and I’m unable to move my left hand. The doctor has asked me to take complete rest for three weeks. My situation would have been worse if any other vehicle was speeding behind the Volvo bus,” she added.
The staff lied too
Besides their negligence, the KSRTC employees gave a false statement at the hospital where she was first taken to, Shyamala’s family alleged. “They told doctors that she fainted after alighting from the bus due to variation in blood pressure. If that was the case, she would have fallen near the door and wouldn’t have had these many fractures. She regained consciousness long after the incident. The negligence could have been fatal and they are trying to hide their fault. We will be giving our statement to Thoppumpady police soon,” added Chinnappan.