Help on the highway

Accidents on the Mumbai-Pune highway are a near daily occurrence. But what is rare is when a passerby goes out of his way to help such vi...

Accidents on the Mumbai-Pune highway are a near daily occurrence. But what is rare is when a passerby goes out of his way to help such victims. One such instance occurred on April 30, when Fakhruddin Patel and his family were returning to Pune after a long and tiring flight from Kuwait.

It was two p.m. and fatigue had overtaken the excitement of starting a new life in Pune. Patel, his wife and four kids were fast asleep in their hired Tata Sumo8230; till the accident. Says Yusuf Khan, a freelance photographer, who was the good samaritan who went out of his way to help the accident victims,8220;We were at the Kamshet bypass when the driver of the Sumo overtook our Trax from the left. As it moved to the right to overtake a lorry it crashed right into a truck carrying bricks.8221;

Khan who was accompanied by brothers Nasir and Rashid and his friend, Sohail Khan could have driven off but they chose not to. 8220;No one likes to stop on the highway because that causes a traffic jam. But seeing the condition of that vehicle with its bonnet stuck right under the truck, we just could not drive away.8221;

The Patels who were till then asleep, slipped into unconsciousness. When Khan went to the jeep he could hear just the youngest kid cry. 8220;Everyone seemed unconscious. The gentleman in the passenger seat had a head injury and was breathing hard. I shook him to get some information, but he did not reply. The driver who was also bleeding profusely was still conscious. He was the one who told me that all he knew about his passengers were that they were going to Pune.8221;

The most immediate task before Khan and his brothers was to remove the victims. With the help of some villagers they managed to get everyone out, except the driver. By then the highway police arrived and told Khan to take the family to the Parmar hospital at Kamshet. 8220;We stopped a lorry and requested the driver to take the family the hospital. We put the canvas sheet at the back of the lorry and laid the four kids and the couple down. My friend, Sohail went with them to the hospital. The next task was to get the driver out. For that we had to pull the jeep from under the lorry. We got a rope from a passing truck driver and securing it to the side of the jeep pulled it out.8221;

The driver was put into a rickshaw and taken to the hospital. After procuring medical aid for the family, Khan searched their bags for some sign of identification. 8220;I found a dairy that had all overseas telephone numbers except for one that belonged to one Kutbuddin Purwala in Pune.

8220;I called this man up and informed him about the mishap. He informed me that the accident victims was his friend Fakhruddin Patel, who was returning with his family from Kuwait as they wanted to settle down in Pune. He requested me to take care of their luggage while he rushed to the hospital.8221;

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Khan kept the luggage at his home and the next day went to visit the Patels who had by then been shifted to Sancheti Hospital in Pune. The children were unharmed but the Patel couple both required surgery for some fractures. Unfortunately the driver succumbed to his injuries three days later.

Says Purwala 8220;Had it not been for the help extended by Khan and his brothers my friend would probably have suffered complications. It was his timely help that saved their lives. These days, no one goes out of his way to help another.8221; But thankfully, some like Khan do, and they keep our faith alive.