Bengaluru: Doctor ditches car stuck in traffic, runs for 45 minutes to perform surgery

Authored by timesofindia.indiatimes.com and submitted by mryogii

Meet Dr Govind Nandkumar, the Bengaluru doctor who ditched his car in traffic and ran 3 kilometres to perform a life-saving surgery

BENGALURU: Bengaluru's infamous traffic, which usually triggers memes and on worse days causes delays in ambulances reaching critical patients, has thrown up an inspiring story.On August 30, Dr Govind Nandakumar, a gastroenterology surgeon with Manipal hospitals, got stuck in traffic in the Sarjapur-Marathahalli stretch while he was on his way to perform a scheduled gallbladder surgery.Mindful that his first patient for the day was already prepped for surgery and there were others who were also expecting their procedures to be performed later, Nandakumar got out of his car and ran to the hospital, which was around 3km away.Reiterating the mess that Benglauru traffic is, Nandakumar told TOI: "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." With no sign of the traffic easing, Nandakumar got out of his car, ran for about 45 minutes to reach his destination to attend to his patient. "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," he said.Nandakumar has been performing critical surgeries for the past 18 years and has so far carried out more than 1,000 successful procedures. He specialises in dealing with surgical problems of the digestive system. He handles surgeries related to removal of tumours and damaged parts from gastrointestinal tracts.

ms2102 on September 12nd, 2022 at 13:34 UTC »

I've been in traffic, but I've never been in traffic where someone else's life was on the line. That must be some kind of stress.

When people zip by using the breakdown lane I always assume their pregnant wife is in the car and in labor.

aWormhatForVermhat on September 12nd, 2022 at 12:37 UTC »

I’ve had to wait for a surgeon during an emergency before when he got pulled over for speeding. The patient had an incredibly swollen tongue so we were having trouble intubating and she possibly needed a tracheostomy. He urged the cop to just write him a ticket already so he could be on his way! Usually the police let them go - they should provide an escort in my opinion!

DrNarcissus on September 12nd, 2022 at 11:39 UTC »

So this is why surgeons do cardio....