‘He wanted to live’: Wife says husband kept riding despite pain after Bengaluru hospitals denied care; demands action | Bengaluru News

BENGALURU: In an early-morning incident in Banashankari III Stage, Bengaluru, 34-year-old mechanic Venkataramana lost his life after suffering a heart attack and struggling to receive timely medical care. According to his wife, Roopa K, the couple visited multiple hospitals, only to be turned away or denied emergency assistance.Roopa told media that action must be taken against the hospitals, which she alleged, failed to provide emergency care or arrange an ambulance. She claimed that the hospital staff may have neglected her husband because of their financial condition.Expressing anguish over the public response, Roopasaid the incident highlighted a growing lack of compassion.“If someone had helped us in time, my husband might have survived,” she said through tears. “He wanted to live. That is why he kept riding despite the pain.”Even in the depths of her grief, Roopa chose compassion over bitterness. She made thehumane decision to donate Venkataramana’s eyes, allowing his death to bring hope to others.“No one should go through what we did,” Roopa said. “Please stop and help when someone is in distress. A few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.”What exactly happened: Man suffers heart attack as wife pleads with passersby for helpVenkataramana, a 34-year-old mechanic from Balaji Nagar in Ittamadu, Banashankari III Stage, woke up at 3:30 am complaining of severe chest pain. His wife, Roopa K, immediately sprang into action and accompanied him on their scooter to a private hospital in Katriguppe, hoping for urgent help. But help did not come. At the hospital, Roopa said they were turned away after being told no doctor was available.At another nearby hospital, an ECG confirmed her worst fear: Venkataramana was showing symptoms of a heart attack. Yet, according to Roopa, no emergency treatment was initiated, and no ambulance was arranged. They were simply advised to take him to Jayadeva Hospital.The couple got back onto the scooter and rode towards the hospital.They never made it. Around 4:21 am, near Kadirenahalli bridge, Venkataramana clutched his chest again, causing the scooter to wobble and the couple to fall onto the road.Roopa frantically waved at passing vehicles, begging strangers to stop and help take her husband to the hospital, but one vehicle after another passed by. Venkataramana lay on the road, gasping for breath, as precious minutes slipped away.Eventually, a pedestrian paused to help, and soon Venkataramana’s sister arrived, attempting to stop vehicles as well. Nearly seven minutes later, a car finally stopped. By then, Venkataramana had lost consciousness. His sister performed CPR before rushing him to the hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.The entire ordeal — Roopa’s desperate pleas, her husband collapsing on the road, and the apathy of passersby — was captured by a nearby CCTV camera.