Couple get free treatment because they are Swedish

While the Indian origin couple from Sweden was unfortunate to get into an accident, the Shindes did not have to pay for their medical expenditure, a team of Swedish paramedical staff including a senior anesthesiologist waited on them, and they also became the subject of a documentary.

As MiD DAY reported in its March 11 edition (Phas gaya bechara!), Sumit and Swati Shinde met with an accident the previous night at the Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL). Two speeding cars had rammed into their vehicle, leaving them with multiple injuries.

The minute the news of the accident reached Sweden, the Swedish government following protocol assigned a team of doctors who were in constant touch with Dr Rajesh Yadav, General Surgeon, Bombay Hospital, who was treating the Shindes. "They requested me to send the couple to Sweden, but I advised against it, as the couple had critical injuries," said Dr Yadav.

After Sumit's recovery, a senior anesthesiologist along with a team of parameds -- who had come to Mumbai all the way from Sweden to escort him -- took Sumit back in a special flight on April 1. A group of documentary makers from Sweden had also flown down to the hospital to shoot a documentary on Shinde's accident and treatment.

His wife, however, has not recovered and is still in the hospital. "She has to undergo an operation and will take a few more weeks to recover completely," said Sumit. Sumit, himself, was lucky to survive. "Almost all the bones in his body were fractured. We had to wait for over 48 hours before Sumit stabilised and we could perform a surgery to correct his spinal cord injury," said Dr Vishal Kundnani, Spinal Surgeon with Bombay Hospital.u00a0The injury had let to partial paralysis. To add to the problems, Sumit suffered from Thalassemia and doctors had to deal with his low haemoglobin levels.

Swedish treatment
According to Swedish protocol, the couple's entire medical expenditure was borne by the Swedish government. A team of Swedish parameds, including a senior anesthesiologist, waited on them and accompanied Shinde to Sweden after his recovery. Their treatment was also the subject of a Swedish documentary.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0