08 September,2016 07:00 AM IST | | Rupsa Chakraborty
Sabita Jain, a 50-year-old resident of Tilak Nagar was outside a Ganesh mandal near her house when a water tanker knocked her down and crushed her left leg
Sabita Jain was outside a Ganesh Mandak in Tilak Nagar when a tanker knocked her down, and ran over her. Pics/Satej Shinde
Sabita Jain stepped out to offer prayers when her world came crashing down. The 50-year-old resident of Tilak Nagar was outside a Ganesh mandal near her house yesterday when a water tanker knocked her down and crushed her left leg.
Doctors at KEM Hospital argue that amputation is the only solution to prevent the infection from spreading. The operation is scheduled for today. "Owing to the large crowd, she was standing on the road. A BMC water tanker came out of nowhere, knocked her down from behind and ran over her left leg," said Pritam Jain (30), Sabita's son, who works as a housekeeping staffer in a private company.
A doctor who is attending to Sabita said her blood vessels have been completely damaged, cuting off supply to the rest of the leg. "We may have to amputate her leg. Else, the infection will spread to the rest of the body, which can be life-threatening."
May lose hand, too
Sabita may suffer impairment of function in her left hand, too; she has sustained grave injuries to it. Following a fracture in the hand seven years ago, her bones were set with the help of iron rods. The accident displaced these rods, which could make the hand dysfunctional.
To add to the family's suffering, the BMC-run hospital has been referring it to private hospitals for expensive tests. Documents available with mid-day show that KEM Hospital asked the family to conduct basic tests for HIV as well as urea and serum count outside, despite having the facility to conduct such tests.
"So far, I have spent more than Rs 12,000 on the treatment. On Wednesday, they referred us to go to a private pathology centre for tests and we spent Rs 2,000 on them," alleged Pritam. mid-day is in possession of the bill.
Dr Avinash Supe, dean of KEM Hospital, said patients are referred outside in case the tests are not offered by the hospital. He said he wasn't aware of Sabita's case and promised to look into the issue.
The family has registered a case at Kidwai police station, in connection with the accident. The driver of the water tanker has been arrested.
