Dedicated doctor stuck in traffic abandons his car and runs for 45 minutes to perform crucial surgery

One doctor in India was not going to let traffic stop him from getting to his patient. Dr. Govind Nandakumar works as a Consultant - Gastroenterology at Manipal Hospitals in Bangalore, a Southern city in India.  He completed his medical school at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, according to his bio on the hospital's website. The surgeon has been performing critical surgeries for the past 18 years. During one case, his patient had been suffering from a gallbladder illness for a long period of time and Dr. Nandkumar knew he had to get to the hospital in time to perform the emergency laparoscopic gallbladder surgery.

However, there was a problem. Due to heavy rains,  waterlogging and traffic jams became a huge obstacle in the IT city. When Dr. Nandkumar set out to get to his patient, he ended up getting stuck in traffic. "I commute every day from central Bangalore to Manipal Hospitals, Sarjapur, which is in the Southeast of Bangalore. I left home well in time for the surgery. My team was all set and prepared to perform the surgery as soon as I would reach the hospital. Looking at the huge traffic, I decided to leave the car with the driver and ran towards the hospital without thinking twice," he told NDTV.

The run was no easy feat as the doctor had abandoned his car and had to pace for 1.8 miles over a time period of 45 minutes to reach the hospital just in time. His patient was waiting in the operation theatre. As soon as he got there, his team was ready to induce anesthesia on the patient. Fortunately, he made it in the nick of time, quickly changed into his scrubs, and performed the crucial surgery.  Speaking to the Times of India, 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." He added, “The patient recovered well, and the surgery went smoothly.”

This wasn't the first time he had trouble with the traffic in the city. “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, according to The New Indian Express. “Even patients, their families are anxious 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.”

Cover Image Source: YouTube | NDTV