Indian Couple Given Immense Help In Stockholm After Midair Medical Emergency

Having a medical emergency while travelling by flight can be a very serious problem. Unless there is a doctor available onboard, there is really no other way to receive immediate medical attention.

According to a Times of India report, a Rajkot couple were on their way to Chicago in an Air India flight to attend their son's wedding. However, the wife suffered a brain stroke midair, and the plane landed in Stockholm so that she could medical attention. But the couple had never even heard of the Swedish city.

Thanks to Sweden's socialism and Indian diaspora's resourcefulness, Dr Jaysukh Makwana's wife got medical help right away.

TOI

The hospital did not ask whether his wife was eligible to be treated there, or whether he had the money to pay for it, said the 60-year-old dentist.

The Indian embassy contacted Indranil Sinha, a researcher who worked nearby, who took the Gujarati and Hindi-speaking Makwana to places where he could find agreeable vegetarian, meals, helped him withdraw money, among other things.

Makwana said they were midair when his wife Usha was suddenly immobile while her speech slurred. Fortunately, a neurologist was on board the flight.

¡°At one glance, he said, brain stroke,¡± said Makwana. The AI flight 127 was approaching the Norwegian sea then. The pilot, Capt N S Billimoria, had the Boeing 777 turn for a medical emergency, landing in Stockholm.

¡°Had she suffered the stroke later, over the Atlantic, help would have been 5-6 hours away, too late,¡± said Makwana.

Lucky for them, the plane was on the ground in 45 minutes and Usha was put into a waiting ambulance, and the local police escorted Makwana for an emergency visa to the Stockholm Arlanda airport terminal.

Somaliska

¡°I heard them say ¡®Orlando¡¯ terminal and was relieved we had landed in the US as my son is here. I didn¡¯t know where this place was. The only country we had travelled to was the US where our son works,¡± said Makwana.

He added, ¡°The police was immensely helpful with the visas and dropped me to a hotel."

By the time he reached the hospital, Suresh Kumar from the Indian embassy had contacted Indranil Sinha, who worked in an institute located near the hospital.

¡°I went to see him. I knew merely seeing an Indian in a foreign country would bring him some comfort,¡± said Sinha.

Sinha did other things to help them out. ¡°I contacted my Gujarati friends and the word spread among their community,¡± said Sinha.

Makwana's wife was moved from the ICU to the general ward. Kaushik Patel, a Gujarati Stockholmer moved him from the hotel to his home.

¡°They drop me to the hospital in the morning, pick me up in the evening, daily. Another family brings me Gujarati lunch daily. Someone gave me a SIM card, another Indian bought me sweaters, the temperature is 3 degree Celsius. Someone else got me a mobile charger,¡± he said.

¡°It¡¯s the benevolence of the hospital staff, police, embassy officials and the local Indians. I have never experienced anything like this,¡± he added.

Embassy of India, Sweden

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