Bengaluru hospitals refuse to admit auto-driver in need of brain surgery; DIPR steps in

In what could be termed as unfortunate, to say the least, the family members of a 54-year-old auto-driver named Suresh, who is currently fighting for his life, approached several hospitals in Bengaluru but none agreed to admit the injured man. Due to financial constraints, Suresh's family went to mostly government medical institutions where they were denied admission.

A Twitter user by the name Meghna Girish brought the plight of Suresh and his family to light as she put out a tweet seeking help from Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. As per Meghna, the elderly man has suffered a lot of blood loss and is in dire need of brain surgery.

DIPR took the matter in its hands

Requesting the state government to assist Suresh, Meghna wrote, "Hon CM @BSYBJP, We are running out of time to save Mr Suresh, age 54, who suffered severe bleeding in his brain. Needs surgery asap. Tried all govt hospitals and none are taking him in. Family from lower income. Please help."

Within a couple of hours, several other users and Karnataka's Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) came forward to help. An official of DIPR whose verified Twitter handle goes by the name Captain Manivannan informed the concerned authorities about Suresh's situation and they swung into action right away.

Current situation

As informed by the DIPR, Basavangudi Hospital has admitted Suresh and all possible assistance will be provided to him and his family members. "We have spoken to the concerned person and as of now, they have admitted him to Basavangudi Hospital. We will try to help," told DIPR.

As the latest development came in, another Twitter user named Sonali Singh pointed out that Suresh is an auto-driver and did not earn much in the last two months due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Indicating that his family will not be able to bear the cost of the surgery, she stated that they wanted to take him to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) but could not procure a bed even after waiting for 4 hours. She also informed that Suresh is currently on a ventilator.

Responding to Sonali's tweet, DIPR said that the procedure of shifting Suresh to NIMHANS is currently underway. "We have requested for his medical records, once it is available we will speak to Director, NIMHANS," the DIPR said.