The five year old with the family(left), the accident site (right) | Farooq Sayed
The five-year old Ananya Pednekar, victim of the Palm Beach road accident, has finally recovered and discharged from the hospital after undergoing a treatment for 18 days in the hospital. If not for a passerby who decided to take the child to a nearest nursing hospital, the survival chances of the child would have been very low. Among all other factors, the main reason that played the crucial role in keeping the child alive, was the role of the passerby who made sure that the child received medical care within the golden hours. According to the doctors of Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, if there would have been a delay of even half an hour in giving medical care to the child, the chances of survival would have been very low.
The medical team from Apollo Hospitals who undertook | Farooq Sayed
The unfortunate incident happened on November 7 in the wee hours, on the Palm Beach road, which took away life of her father Manish Pednekar (40) and severely injured mother Sneha (34). The family was returning after celebrating Sneha’s birthday in the wee hours and was going towards Airoli from Belapur via Pal Beach road when a drunk Omkar More (26), a resident of Sanpada rammed onto the Kwid car of the family with his Thar SUV near Sarsole junction at Nerul. This was one of those cases, wherein along with the family, the doctors too felt a emotional blow looking at the condition of the child. By the time, the news of the tragic accident came out in media, there were citizens across who did what they could by donating Rs 20 lakh within 48 hours of the crowd funding link going live. A total of Rs 23 lakh was collected in the crowd funding for the baby.
“The mother had head injury and she under went surgery for the same and along with the baby, she too is recovering at our place,” said the aunt of the baby, Samata Goud, an investment banker by profession, said.
“While the child was in the nursing hospital, she was bleeding and unconscious which the hospital took care of. Once the immediate care was provided, she was referred to Apollo Emergency. At the time she was brought here, she was still unconscious, on ventilator and was bleeding from mouth, nose, ear and throat. She had swelling over left shoulder, right forearm and right clavicle,” Dr Abhijit Bagde Clinical Lead – Paediatric Intensive Care & General Paediatrics, Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai, said.
The accident site | Farooq Sayed
The accident site | Farooq Sayed
The child underwent emergency surgery for ongoing bleeding and vascular compromise after which she also underwent plastic surgery and orthopedic surgery. “She tolerated well all the surgeries. The biggest positive sign was that there were no infections post-surgery and also there was no brain injury she suffered. Brain injury would have complicated things further,” Dr Bagde added.
Over the period of time, the child was clinically stabilized and supportive care was provided to her kidneys and lungs. Kidney function improved, her nutrition intake improved. On the day six of admission, she was extubated. Post extubation, oral feeding, physiotherapy and mobilization of the child was done. “By the time she was discharged, she was sitting, walking, eating and had also started talking. She cut a cake before leaving the hospital and it was an emotional moment for all the team,” he added. On the 18th day, on November 25, she was discharged.
“The child will have regular follow-ups with the counsellor and other doctors. The family has been extremely brave and so was the child,” Dr Vijay Yewal, Sr. Consultant & Head of Department -Pediatrics, Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai said. Dr Rituparna Ghosh, counselor said, “The child still does not know about the demise of her father. With our regular counselling we would be providing her emotional support to help her accept the reality. She would be gradually made to understand about what happened. The child has been showing good signs of recovering both physically as well as mentally.” Dr. Vinod Vij, Sr. Consultant Plastic Surgery & Cosmetology, Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai, remarked, “Reconstructing facial fractures in such a young child is a delicate process, and it was important to ensure minimal impact on her growing facial structures. Our team worked meticulously to restore her appearance and functionality, and the results have been highly positive.”
“It is important to note that the one who helps a accident victim, need not be afraid of any legal formalities and in fact this act of empathy by providing timely medical assistance can save a life. At Apollo, when such cases come in, we do not look into if the patient has a relative accompanied or how about the expenses, our first and foremost standing instruction is to save the life,” Arunesh Punetha, Regional CEO- Western Region, Apollo Hospitals, said.
“Throughout her recovery, she underwent physiotherapy to restore normal movement in her limbs. At the time of discharge on November 25th, she had regained her speech, could sit without support, and was walking with minimal assistance. Her mother was trained to continue the physiotherapy exercises at home. Psychological counselling also supported her recovery from post-traumatic stress,” the aunt said.
More, the accused in the case who was arrested on the same day, was granted bail on Thursday while the family that was affected by his act of drunk and driving are fighting a tough battle daily, trying to face the reality bravely.
