Rajahmundry: The family members of an elderly woman, who had suffered critical head injuries, were getting ready to perform her last rites but found that she was alive. She was shifted to the government hospital at Kakinada for medical treatment. Ms Pedapati Kamala, 65, the wife of pensioner Buchi Raju of Rajanagaram, near Rajahmundry, had gone to her daughter’s house in Rajahmundry on Wednesday. There she slipped from the staircase and suffered a severe head injury. She was rushed to a private hospital for medical treatment.
Doctors reportedly informed her family that she needed to undergo major surgery which would involve a large amount of money as she was in a very critical condition. The family could not afford the cost of treatment, especially as her chances of survival were said to be bleak, and allegedly wanted to take her home. On their way to her daughter’s house on Thursday evening, they noticed that she was unresponsive and assumed that she had died. Her family called up a private agency and booked a vehicle to transport dead body and took space on the banks of Godavari river to perform last rites, and paid the fee.
As the agency was making arrangements to send the vehicle, it received a phone call from a member of Ms Kamala’s family stating that she was not dead and they did not require their service. A family member said they found Ms Kamala moving her limbs slightly, and was responsive when they tried to talk to her. She also accepted a few sips of milk. The family took her to the government hospital at Kakinada, though it is farther away, in the hope that doctors there could handle critical cases better. When contacted Mr Buchi Raju said, “She is undergoing treatment in the ICU. Doctors said that her condition was critical and she may survive for a day or two. We are hoping for the best.”
