Bengaluru doctor runs 45 minutes to perform surgery in time

A surgeon in Bengaluru, who was stuck in the city's infamous traffic made worse by rains and waterlogging, reportedly ditched his car on the road and ran to the hospital to perform surgery.

Dr Govind Nandakumar, gastroenterology surgeon, was stuck in traffic on the Sarjapur-Marathahalli stretch on his way to Manipal Hospital in Sarjapur where he was scheduled to perform an emergency laparoscopic gallbladder surgery on 30 August, reports The Times of India.

Reportedly,  the last stretch of his journey was severely delayed, as a result of which, he disembarked from his vehicle and decided to run.

"The last stretch usually takes ten minutes. I was stuck in the traffic, getting nervous about being late," he told The New Indian Express.

It was a three-kilometer stretch to the hospital, where he ran. Speaking to Times of India, he said, "I had to reach Manipal Hospital in Sarjapur from Cunningham Road. Due to heavy rains and waterlogging, there was a traffic pile-up a few kilometres ahead of the hospital."

Adding that he did not want to keep his patients waiting, he said, "I did not want to waste any more time waiting for the traffic to clear up as my patients aren't allowed to have their meals until surgery is over. I did not want to keep them waiting for long."

"I have a driver, so, I was able to leave the car behind. It was easy for me to run because I gym regularly. I ran three km to the hospital, and was in time for the surgery," he told The New Indian Express.

He added that this is not the first time he has faced such a situation. "I have had to make the journey on foot a few times in other areas of Bengaluru too, sometimes crossing railway lines. I was not anxious since our hospital has adequate staff and infrastructure to take good care of a patient. The situation may not be the same for small hospitals," he said.

"Even patients and their families are anxiously waiting for the doctors. What if a patient in an ambulance is stuck in traffic? There was no space even for an ambulance to pass."

Bengaluru was once again inundated by severe waterlogging following heavy rainfall last week which caused a public outcry against the city's mishandled infrastructure.