On the 30th of July 2015 a mundane commute to college transformed into a battle for life for B.Mahesh. After being hit by a motorcycle he suffered massive injuries to his skull and also a fracture to his leg. The motor-cycle which had three people on it hit him from behind and sent him flying a few feet across the road. Eye-witnesses describe that Mahesh was walking along the side of the road and the driver, in a bid to overtake a vehicle cut left and hit Mahesh with no time to react. Alas! There he was, lying unconscious on the busy langarhouse road.
He was taken to Premier Hospitals at nanalnagar after a local hospital located a few metres away from the accident site claimed that they wouldn’t be able to treat him. At Premier, doctors declared his situation to be extremely critical. He had suffered a massive internal injury to his brain and there was significant internal bleeding. News of this accident didn’t take long to spread and soon almost everyone form the ECE department was there at the hospital to support our dear friend. His parents came to know about the fate of their son via a phone call made by one of his friends. They immediately left their village located 160 Kms away from Hyderabad
In the meantime, all the decisions about the treatment Mahesh would get were made by faculty members and students who had gathered at the hospital. They even paid for his bills and medicines. But his condition worsened with the passing of every single hour. On the second day, there was so much blood inside his skull that it had begun seeping inside a few areas of his brain, rendering them functionless. On the 31st of July at roughly 3 PM he was taken to Apollo hospitals as the whole class stood and watched in horror the danger their friend was in.
At Apollo Hospitals a successful surgery was performed to remove that blood and his condition was declared to be out of danger. But Mahesh still hadn’t opened his eyes, he still didn’t respond to the frantic calls of his mother nor was he able to recognize any of his friends’ voices. Although he was breathing, he lay lifeless on the bed, in a coma. Doctors were clueless how long it would take for him to recover.
‘No one can predict how long it will take for him to come back. It can be two weeks, two months or even a year’
This incident shook everyone. His classmates were terrified at how someone’s life could take such a drastic turn in a few seconds. Someone whom they talked to and laughed with just yesterday was now lying unconscious in a hospital fighting for his life. The fragility of our lives was now exposed laid bare in front of everyone to see and contemplate about the false sense of security we feel while living everyday life. The macabre realisation that anyone, literally anyone could be in Mahesh’s place suffering the same fate as his sent chills down the spine of every single person who stopped and reflected.
Days passed and Mahesh’s condition still wasn’t improving. The hospital bills too were growing fat, the 10 Lakh given by the people who caused the accident were exhausted in a few days. . Every single bill was at least 5 digits long. Mahesh’s father is an auto driver and his mother is a house-wife. Clearly there was no way they could afford his treatment.
The faculty and students stepped up and took responsibility, there was a massive campaign launched inside Vasavi college of Engineering to collect funds for Mahesh’s treatment. Students, faculty members, everyone chipped in. Mahesh’s friends in MGIT launched a similar campaign in their college. Word spread far and wide and soon even strangers who had never met him were donating money, helping him out. Some even visited the hospital and lent their support to his family who were now distraught. At least 10 Lakh more was collected in this way. For those involved in the ‘Save Mahesh’ campaign, the incident came as an eye-opener to the humanity that rested in people’s hearts.
People were so moved by Mahesh’s plight that even strangers were ready to go long lengths to save his life.
Mahesh’s parents started living inside parking lots and waiting areas of every hospital he was shifted to. ‘We won’t leave our son’ they said. He was the jewel of their family. The most educated and talented member who had worked really hard to get where he was. All thought his life Mahesh studied in government schools and small private schools situated in and around Tandur. He did his intermediate at the local Narayana Junior college. During his first year of intermediate Mahesh suffered a severe bout of appendicitis and had to stay home for 6 months. His mother says that Mahesh used to frequently fall ill all through his intermediate. But he didn’t let this get in the way of his studies. Every class-test he wrote, Mahesh would be among the top 3 rankers. He didn’t give up, worked really hard and managed to achieve a 95% in Intermediate board exams and an Eamcet rank of around 4000, enough to get him a free seat at Vasavi College of Engineering. His Engineering aggregate up to 2-2 is around 88%. A percentage like that very easily puts among the top 5-10% at Osmania University. Clearly, Mahesh was one of the brightest students and most hardworking person one could ever meet.
His life is an example of how someone can defy the odds and rise above excuses. He was a fighter, someone who was likely to fight challenges in life rather than use them as justifications to one’s failure.
But this was perhaps the biggest fight he ever fought. He was fighting for his life.
Even after being hospitalised for about 45 days, Mahesh’s condition wasn’t improving. He opened his eyes though but wasn’t able to recognize anything. He would just roll them about aimlessly. His daily treatment was now costing about 30-35,000 per day.The application to CM relief fund was not yielding any fruit as Mahesh’s condition was an abnormal case and thus there was difficulty in getting help from the government.
But soon, things changed on Septmeber 18th. A message shared on twitter had reached so far that KTR(IT and Panchayat Raj minister of Telengana state) had seen it. He was very eager to help and because of his efforts an amount of 8 Lakhs was sanctioned by the CM Relief Fund. Mahesh was shifted to NIMS and KTR spoke to the director of NIMS personally and ensured that Mahesh be given full attention and care.
The Doctors at NIMS tried their best to revive Mahesh and succeed in making his body breathe without any ventilator support. But his consciousness levels weren’t improving. Mahesh fought a hard battle and ultimately on October 24th at around 3 AM Mahesh’s blood pressure plummeted and after a failed attempt by doctors to revive him, Mahesh breathed his last. That is how his fight ended, after an almost 3 month struggle.
His last rites were performed at Rudaram village, his native place located a few kilometres away from Tandur. Mahesh’s memory will always stay with us. He will not be remembered as the victim of a tragic accident but as the boy who fought poverty, backwardness and all other challenges he had to face to reach where he was. His life serves as an inspiration to all of us, even after he’s gone he reminds us everyday that it doesn’t matter where you come from and how many difficulties you face, because obstacles are those things you see when your sight wanders off, away from your goal
It was truly an honour to have known him as a friend and a classmate.
By,
Shaik Noor Md Khasim(ECE-3/4)