Bus driver suffers heart attack but saves 40 lives
AS SOON AS NAWAZ BEG PARKED THE
BUS, THE CONDUCTOR AND ANOTHER PASSENGER RUSHED HIM TO THE HOSPITAL
A driver in Rajasthan suffered a heart attack on a busy road but kept his wits and parked the bus on a side, ensuring the safety of all 40 passengers, many of them children.
A heavily built Nawaz Beg was taking a Rajasthan roadways bus from Dungarpur in the south of the desert state to Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.
As the bus crossed Banswara, a district that abuts Dungarpur, the 50-year-old felt pain in his chest. It was around 11.30am, a time when the traffic is heavy. “When I started feeling faint, I steered the vehicle off the road and parked it on the side to avoid an accident. When I regained consciousness, it was evening,” Beg said over phone from his hospital bed on Wednesday. He is being treated at the government hospital in Banswara.
As soon as he parked the bus, the conductor and another passenger rushed the father of four to the hospital in an auto-rickshaw.
“The incident happened in Banswara city, which is very crowded. I shudder to think what would have happened had Beg lost control or a vehicle come from the opposite side,” said Kaduram Meena, Banswara chief manager of the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation.
Beg, who didn’t have a history of heart disease, plans to go to Ahmedabad for further treatment.
“I have donated blood 38 times. It is possible that someone’s prayers saved my life,” said Beg.