15 July,2014 04:34 AM IST | | Anuj Ismail
Shardul Kulkarni crashed after trying to avoid hitting a dog on the road, his family and friends appeal for assistance in paying for medical care
Shardul Kulkarni met with a bike crash while on his way to work. He swerved to avoid hitting a dog, but lost control of the bike. Pic\Mohan Patil.
It was to be a regular day for 23-year-old Shardul Kulkarni, who left his home in Vadgaonsheri in the early hours to get to work at Wagholi on June 27. Shardul, an avid bike rider and a member of the Pune Bikers' Group, was riding alone on the Pune-Solapur highway at 5 am, when he saw a dog on the road.
Shardul Kulkarni met with a bike crash while on his way to work. He swerved to avoid hitting a dog, but lost control of the bike. Pic\Mohan Patil.
He swerved to avoid hitting the dog, but lost control when the bike began to skid. Having crashed on the deserted road, Shardul lay in a pool of blood for an hour, before the police was notified and they took him to a hospital.
Shardul suffered severe internal bleeding and sustained injuries in his liver for which he underwent surgery. While he is currently in the Intensive care unit (ICU) at Inamdar Hospital in Wanowrie undergoing treatment, his family members are torn between their concern for him and the pressure of dwindling financial resources.
Sole earning member
Shardul, who is the sole earning member of his family, works as a wireman at a private car manufacturing company. His father, who owns a small flower business, exhausted his savings on his sister's wedding two months ago, said Vishnu Pant Kulkarni, his uncle. The family scraped together Rs 3 lakh to pay for part of Shardul's treatment.
However, the family still needs a further Rs 8 lakh for the medical procedures. "I am left with no other option but to sell off my house so that we can save his life and bear the medical expenses," said his uncle, Vishnu.
Shardul's friends from Pune Bikers' Group attempted to collect money for him through WhatsApp, and are now hoping that others will come forward to help the family in their crisis.
Support pours in
Sangram Devkar, a member of the group said, "After the incident we created a WhatsApp group with the name âSave Shardul', and collected Rs 1 lakh. However the amount is not sufficient for his treatment. Therefore I want to appeal to the citizens to kindly come forward and save his life."
