As Mulund hit-n-run victim battles for life, hospital bill soars to

Mumbai: Three weeks after 38-year-old Prasad Patil fell off a ladder at the famous ‘Mulundcha Raja’ Ganpati mandal and sustained serious injuries in a hit and run incident, the mandap decorator is still battling for his life at a Thane hospital. His brain is not responding, he has multiple fractures including on his collar bones and legs and needs to undergo a hip surgery, which the doctors at the privately-owned Jupiter Hospital are advising against fearing he may lose too much blood, said his family members. Patil’s medical bills, meanwhile, have soared to ₹13 lakh, which the family is struggling to pay even though the local legislator and the Ganpati mandal have contributed ₹2 lakh to cover medical expenses.
“The hospital bills have gone up more than ₹13 lakh. Now, the doctors are prescribing medicines and injections from outside which cost ₹20,000-25,000 per day. It is too expensive, and we cannot afford it,” said the decorator’s wife Jyotsana Patil, trying hard to control her tears.
The family of five – comprising Patil, his parents, his wife and their five-year-old son – resides in a room measuring barely 120 square feet at a chawl in Mitha Nagar in Mulund. Patil was the only breadwinner of the family as his father is too old to take up painting-related work. A few months ago, his mother too underwent a surgery to treat a fracture in the leg, from which she is yet to recover fully.
Patil and Pritam Thorat, a fellow volunteer at the Ganpati mandal, were injured around 4am on September 7, when a speeding BMW rammed the ladder using which they were putting up banners outside the mandap in Gavanpada area in Mulund East. Thorat succumbed to his injuries while being taken to a nearby hospital whereas Patil was shifted to Jupiter Hospital in critical condition.
Patil’s family said he was shifted to the general ward on September 26 after spending 18-19 days on ventilator in the intensive care unit.
“He was in a coma earlier and his condition has improved only a little. The doctors have inserted a (tracheostomy) tube in his neck to help him breathe,” said his wife. Hospital authorities are also insisting that he be kept under observation at home, saying the hospital is for treatment not to take care of patients, Jyotsana added.
“If we have to take him home and take care of him, we need to rent a bigger house, purchase medical equipment (such as an airbed, oxygen cylinder and suction machine) and hire a nurse. Where do we get the money for all this from,” said the distraught Jyotsana.
She also alleged the accused BMW owner, 32-year-old Shakti Aulakh alias Shawn, did not come forward to help the family with medical expenses despite being financially well-off and roaming free.
As per the information provided by police, Mulund West resident Shawn works with an IT firm. Though he fled from the spot after the accident, he was arrested by the Navghar police from Navi Mumbai the same day under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 125 (B) (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with sections 134 (A), 134 (B) and 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Though Shawn denied having consumed alcohol prior to driving during interrogation, his blood sample was collected and sent for medical analysis and the report is still awaited, said a police officer. He was granted bail last week.