KOLHAPUR: Pandurang Ulpe‘s family couldn’t believe what they had just seen. They were on their way to cremate the 65-year-old when the ambulance they were in went over a speed bump and his fingers began to move.
“We were stunned. We immediately turned the vehicle around and took him back to hospital where doctors stabilised him. Yes, my grandfather is now alive,” Omkar Ramane, Ulpe’s grandson, told TOI on Thursday.
The incident occurred on Dec 16, and Ulpe, all alive and well, was finally discharged from hospital on Dec 30. His story made headlines this week after a video emerged on local social media showing him walking back into his house, escorted by cheering relatives.
According to his family, Ulpe on Dec 16 had just come back home from his farm when he began to vomit and feel uneasy. His wife called for help.
Grandson Ramane said Ulpe was first taken to a private hospital in Kasba Bawda, where he lives. “Doctors there told us it was a heart attack.”
‘Ambulance hits a bump, revives ‘dead’ man
Pandurang Ulpe’s grandson Ramane said doctors at the private hospital in Kasba Bawda first said the 65-year-old suffered a heart attack and referred him to another private hospital. “In the private hospital, he vomited blood a few times. An ECG was carried out, but my grandfather was declared dead. Doctors said they had tried hard to save his life,” Ramane said.
Later that day, Ulpe’s relatives cleared the hospital bills and informed their loved ones of his “passing”. “We also began preparing for the funeral. We were on our way with his body when the ambulance struck a speed breaker, near Chougule Galli in Kasba Bawda.
We saw his fingers move. One of our relatives touched his wrist and felt a pulse,” Ramane said. Ulpe was taken to CPR Hospital, but since beds there were full, the ambulance was diverted to DY Patil Hospital. A doctor at the hospital said: “He was in a critical state, near collapse. He was put on ventilator after we performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation to restore blood flow. An ECG also found a block so he was rushed to another hospital for angioplasty. He recovered fully after a two-day stay.”
Ulpe’s family refused to divulge the name of the hospital or the doctors who had declared him dead on Dec 16.
Officials from Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, told TOI on Thursday the incident will be investigated. “Doctors just cannot declare a person dead without proper examination. We will probe this episode,” said Prakash Pavra, KMC’s chief health officer.
