From: [email protected] To: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31821&articlexml=DRIVING-ME-CRAZY-Killer-pothole-leaves-Bandra-woman-13042015001019 Apr 13 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)DRIVING ME CRAZY - Killer pothole leaves Bandra woman in comaAditya Anand TWEETS @anandadityaMenace of bad roads strikes even before the beginning of monsoonMarilyn Remedios, 40, fell off the scooter she was riding pillion on at a Mahim spot where road work has left a huge crater A 40-year-old Bandra woman has been in coma for the last seven days after falling off a motorcycle that hit a huge crater on Mahim Causeway.The accident happened at 5 am on April 6, when Marilyn Remedios, a homemaker, was riding pillion with her husband Sheldon, 48. The two were on their way to Dadar to catch the morning Jan Shatabdi Express to Goa. Sheldon said they set off on their Honda Activa from their Chapel Road residence as the couple did not have much luggage. A cousin who had a duplicate key was to take the scooter back from the station. When they were about to take a left after the Mahim Causeway, tragedy struck. “The stretch was poorly lit and the scooter hit a big pothole,“ Sheldon told Mirror. “The bike wobbled and we fell. There was water and a lot of loose gravel and stones. I managed to get up quickly, but Marilyn was not moving. I thought she must be dazed, but I soon figured she was profusely bleeding due to a head injury.“ The civic body is working on repairing some 1,000 city roads before the monsoons. There have been constant complaints of these stretches not being barricaded properly. Even in this case, the civic body claimed it has put up barricades, but when Mirror visited the spot on Sunday, there was no barricade. Mumbai Mirror has been running a campaign Driving Me Crazy to make the city's roads safer. While getting citizens to behave responsibly on the road, the campaign also hopes to get the state machinery to ensure that proper infrastructure is in place. A shocked Sheldon said that immediately after the accident, he tried to look for his phone, which Marilyn was holding, to call for help. As he was calling relatives and friends, a car stopped and offered to help him. “It was like a dead place,“ said Sheldon. “There was no traffic. A car appeared and the occupants took us to Bhabha Hospital in Bandra. As Marilyn's condition was serious, we decided to shift her to Lilavati Hospital.“ Marilyn, who suffered a clot in the head, has since been moved from an economy class room to a common class room as the family could not afford the high room rates. A team of doctors led by neurosurgeon Dr Nitin Dange conducted a surgery on April 8 and opened the skull to ease pressure on the brain. “For now Marilyn continues to remain in coma due to the swelling in the brain,“ Dange said. “She is on ventilator and under heavy dosage of sedatives. Therefore it is difficult to asses her condition overall. However there is slight movement in her limbs. The swelling may take about a week to 10 days to subside. So far, it is the swelling in the brain that is worrying us. As that starts reducing, we hope she will gradually come out of coma.“ The homemaker and mother of two girls -Angelyn, aged 9, and Adelynn, aged 7 -is presently under the supervision of Dr Abdul Ansari and his team. Sheldon, who runs Groove Events, a company he established in 1991 and specialises in organising Goan beach weddings and corporate events, said, “Why is the government so careless about basic infrastructure? Millions of Mumbaikars go through hell due to potholes and other problems every single day.“ With the cost of hospitalisation and treatment being high, family and friends of Remedios have started pooling in resources. They have also approached the St Andrews parish for monetary help. “We have approached the parish for funds in helping us pay for the expenses at Lilavati hospital and other institutions. The doctor has given us an approximate costing of Rs 15 lakh to 20 lakh, which is likely to go up,“ the family posted in an appeal on a social networking site. “An announcement about Marilyn's condition was made during mass,“ said David Fernandes, a parishioner. “The priest said a prayer and parishioners were appealed to help in ev ery way. Arrangements are being done to help the family.“ The Mahim police said they have so far made only a station entry as the family is yet to press charges. Constable Vasant Vasave said, “The accident took place at 5.30 am due to a pothole on the road, which Sheldon did not notice due to darkness. We conducted a spot panchanama after receiving information from Lilavati Hospital. Since the family has not pressed for charges we have so far only made a station entry.“ BMC officials said road work was being carried out at the site and claimed barricades are put up around the area.“Work will be over by the monsoon.There might have been some gravel on the road but barricades were put up at the site. However, the road is kept open for motorists as it is re-laid,“ said a civic official from the ward. When Mirror visited the spot on Sunday, there were no barricades around the area.
