Lady traffic cop saves Vinod Kambli’s life
Two public-spirited traffic cops saved the life of former cricketer Vinod Kambli on Friday morning after he suffered a stroke while driving his car.
The two cops, one of them a woman, ensured that the cricketer reached the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra in less than fifteen minutes from Chembur.
Result: Kambli, who has a history of heart trouble, had stabilized by Friday night.
According to the police, Kambli (42) was driving his Mitsubishi Pajero car and was headed for his home in Bandra on the Eastern Express Highway. At 9:30 am the sportsman was skirting the Highway Apartment near Chembur, when he pulled over his car in front of a traffic cop.
"I was patrolling near the Highway Apartment when a big white car suddenly stopped in front of me. I recognized Kambli, who was in the driver's seat. He complained of uneasiness in his chest and said that he had to be rushed to the hospital. I immediately called up my senior and the control room officials, asking them what to do," said Constable Kumardatta Shendge, attached with Matunga traffic division.
Shengde's superior offi- cer, API Sujata Patil, who too was patrolling nearby, took charge of the situation and called up the control room to pave the way for a traffic free road from Chembur to Bandra.
Meanwhile, Kambli's wife Andrea, with whom the cricketer had got in touch, had arranged an ambulance. However, the two traffic cops decided not to wait for the ambulance. Shengde planted herself in
the driver's seat in the Pajero and Patil trailed them in her patrolling car. Kambli was in severe pain and sobbing. "He kept saying, 'help me'. We tried our best to comfort him. Shengde held his arm throughout the journey, attempting to calm him down," added Patil. "The control room, which was aware about the situation, made sure that we did not have to stop even once. We reached Lilavati Hospital in 12 minutes," said the constable. Patil’s is the same cop whose poem about the 2012 Azad Maidan riots had sparked controversy. In the Mumbai police’s in house journal Samwad, Sujata had mentioned that the Azad Maidan protesters were “snakes” and “traitors” and suggested that their hands should have been “chopped off.” She later tendered an unconditional apology which was published in the journal.