The heart patient is now undergoing treatment at a hospital in Karnal.
India's much-derided potholes - which have caused everything from annoyance and exasperation to injuries and even deaths - turned out to be a literal lifesaver for an 80-year-old man from Haryana on Thursday, his family has claimed.
Declared dead by doctors, the "body" of Darshan Singh Brar was being taken from Patiala to his home near Karnal, where mourning relatives had gathered, food had been laid out and wood had been collected for his funeral, when the ambulance hit a pothole.
Brar's family said his grandson, who was with him in the ambulance, noticed him moving his hand and, on sensing a heartbeat, asked the ambulance driver to head to the nearest hospital. The doctors there declared him alive.
The 80-year-old heart patient is now undergoing treatment at a hospital in Karnal, where his condition is said to be critical. The family has hailed the incident as a miracle and are now hoping for a speedy recovery.
Despair To Hope
One of Brar's grandsons, Balwan Singh, said the 80-year-old lived in Nising near Karnal, where an entire colony has been named after him. Brar had not been keeping well for a few days and Balwan Singh's brother took him to a hospital near his house in Patiala for treatment.
Balwan said his grandfather was on a ventilator for four days and, on Thursday morning, doctors said that his heartbeat had stopped. He was taken off the ventilator and declared dead.
"My brother in Patiala informed us around 9 am on Thursday about our grandfather's death, and he was getting him to Nising (roughly 100 km away) in an ambulance for his last rites. We had informed our relatives and other local residents who knew him and they had already gathered to mourn his passing. A tent had been set up and food had also been arranged for the mourners. We had also got wood for the cremation," Balwan said on Friday.
When the ambulance was near Dhand village in Haryana's Kaithal, it hit a pothole hard and Balwan's brother noticed that Brar had moved his hand. Amazed, he checked for a heartbeat and, on sensing one, took the 80-year-old to a hospital nearby.
The family said doctors at the hospital confirmed that Brar was alive and breathing and then referred him to a hospital in Nising, from where he was taken to the NP Rawal Hospital in Karnal.
"It is a miracle. Now we are hoping that my grandfather recovers soon. Everyone who had gathered to mourn his death congratulated us, and we requested them to have the food we had arranged. It is God's grace that he is now breathing and we are hoping he will get better," he said.
'Critical, But Breathing'
Dr Netrapal from Rawal Hospital said, "We cannot say that the patient had died. When he was brought to us, he was breathing and had blood pressure as well as a pulse. We don't know what happened at the other hospital, whether it was a technical error or something else."
"The family said he was on a ventilator in Patiala for four days but he is now breathing on his own. He is still critical and in the ICU. The breathing is laborious because he has an infection in his chest," the doctor added.