Bengaluru: Doctor runs 3 kilometers amid traffic to perform surgery
Stuck in the infamous Bengaluru traffic, a doctor getting late for a crucial surgery decided to leave his car behind and ran three kilometers to reach the hospital on time. The incident happened two weeks back when Dr. Govind Nandakumar — a gastroenterology surgeon at Manipal Hospital, Sarjapur — scheduled to perform gallbladder surgery on a mid-aged woman, got stuck on the Sarjapur-Marathahalli stretch.
Why does this story matter?
Known as a tech hub and a laboratory of startups, Bengaluru is often touted as India's most advanced city but is blemished by its traffic woes. Recently, heavy rainfall left the city in a deluge with waterlogged roads and lakes overflowing into the basement of posh residential colonies. Traffic was badly hit due to rains and some people had to be evacuated using boats.
Doctor's team was prepared and waiting for a go-ahead
Dr. Nandakumar was to perform an emergency laparoscopic gallbladder surgery and had left his home well in time. He said he commutes daily from his home in central Bengaluru to the hospital which is in the southeast part of the city. His team was all set for the surgery and were waiting to induce anesthesia on the patient as the doctor arrived.
The doctor shared a short clip of him running
Surgery was successful, patient was discharged
Nandakumar said that he figured he won't be able to reach the hospital on time as the traffic jam stretched up to the hospital from Cunningham road. Nandakumar got out of the car, being driven by his driver, and began running towards the hospital. He managed to reach there on time and successfully performed the surgery and the patient was discharged as scheduled.
If delayed, patient would have developed intense pain
Nandakumar said that his patients aren't allowed to eat until surgery is done. The patient had been suffering from the illness for a long time and the doctor realized that delaying the surgery further would cause intense pain in her abdomen. He has performed over 1,000 surgeries in his career of 18 years. He specializes in removing tumors and damaged tissue from gastrointestinal tracts.
