It was meant to be a flight to Delhi to save the son ‘at any cost’

Rajesh and Ravindra,along with a third brother,run a medicine shop. However,their sons had other dreams. While Rahul wanted to become an engineer,Ratnesh was doing his graduation in Arts.

It was while he was preparing in Patna for his engineering entrance test that Rahul contracted jaundice. About a month ago,as his condition worsened,he returned to Bettiah. But bed rest and family care did not help,and Rahul had to be taken back to Patna after his bilirubin shot up to 14 — way above the normal range.

When a deteriorating Rahul slipped into coma,the family decided to airlift him to Delhi. Ravindra had left for Delhi to prepare for his arrival at Apollo Hospital,while Ratnesh remained by Rahul’s side in hospital. Rahul’s parents would have left to be with him on Thursday morning. Eventually only his father and uncle left for the Capital,for the cremation.

“We wanted to save Rahul at all costs and went ahead to call an air ambulance from Apollo Hospital,” said Rahul’s grandfather Indrasan Prasad Gupta. “We were ready to part with our life savings to save him. But God took away my two grandsons instead.”

While Rahul’s mother remained inconsolable and did not come out of the house,a grieving Indrasan showed mug-shots of his grandsons from the family album to the media. Rahul also has two sisters.

In June,the family had been hoping to have all the members together for Ratnesh’s sister Khusbhu’s wedding. “My family is now too crestfallen to organise a marriage function,” said Indrasan.

A neighbour,Kedar Singh,said while the Guptas were well-to-do,they were not really wealthy. “It was a desperate bid to save Rahul.”

Among the entrance tests Rahul had given was for IIT-JEE,the results for which were declared yesterday. With him being in a critical state,the family has not gone around to checking whether the 20-year-old had made it.