THEIR ACTIONS SAVED LIVES

As is usual these days, when a car hit a man on Najafgarh Road in September, a crowd gathered at the spot but did little to help the injured man. Nobody called the cops or made an effort to stop the driver from speeding away. Pradeep Grover, a shop owner, was the only one with any intention of assisting the victim. He bundled the injured man into an e-rickshaw and rushed him to a hospital in Vikaspuri, where the man received timely medical aid.Grover has similarly intervened in other cases too.

In January, Rahul Guranani was crossing the Geeta Colony flyover when he noticed a bloodied man on the road surrounded by onlookers, who were clicking pictures and going live on Facebook. Guranani coaxed people to help him take the unconscious tempo driver to hospital, but got no response. He was carrying some stuff on his Scooty, but he somehow put the victim there, tied him at his waist to ensure he didn’t fall and took him to hospital. Guranani kept vigil at there until the man’s family members arrived.

In September, Sonu Gautam was jogging past Chilla flyover in Mayur Vihar Extension when he saw a crowd around an accident victim. When he wanted to help — he has done so many times — the people dissuaded him, saying it was a police case and so only the cops should take the person to hospital. However, fearing that delay would prove fatal for the bleeding victim, Gautam hailed an autorickshaw, assured the reluctant auto driver he would pay extra and reached the hospital. After admitting the victim, Gautam waited there till his relatives arrived.

In February, Haider Ali was out with three friends in Karkardooma when they ran into an injured couple. The husband lay unconscious, while the wife struggled to breathe. When he saw that none of the people milling around was ready to help despite the woman gasping for help, he stepped up and took the suffering duo to a nearby hospital, where they got treatment that saved their lives. Ali says that the couple’s family remains grateful to him for extending a hand that fateful day.

In June, Kuldeep Kumar was heading home when a woman on a scooter sped past his motorcycle. A few metres ahead, the scooter rammed a car. The woman was flung from her seat and crashed into the rear windshield of the car. While people stood there blaming her for the accident, Kumar quickly went into action. Even as the crowd argued the scooterist was the cause of the accident, not the victim, Kumar took her to hospital. She underwent several surgeries and her family has not forgotten Kumar’s life-saving act.