A day before she was to enter wedded life, a 28-year-old woman from Kundrathur sustained head injuries in a road accident and went into a coma.
For more details read the opinion piece by G. Ananthakrishnan on The Hindu Blogs >here .)
On Monday night, a week after the accident, Poongodi succumbed to her injuries. After post-mortem, the body was buried on Tuesday. Her family is yet to come to terms with the loss.
Daughter of Pakkirisami, a retired employee of a company in Ramavaram, Poongodi was to get married on September 16. The previous day, she had an appointment at a beauty parlour. Her brother-in-law offered to take her there on his motorcycle.
When the vehicle hit a speed-breaker on Thandalam-Kovur Road, Poongodi was thrown off the two-wheeler and sustained severe head injuries.
She was rushed to a private hospital in Porur in an unconscious state.
“The doctors there asked us to pay Rs. 1.5 lakh for surgery and Rs. 35,000 per day for the intensive care unit. It was beyond our means. We had already taken a huge loan for her wedding. If the doctors could have at least guaranteed her survival after the surgery, we would have tried to arrange the funds somehow,” said J. Thilagavathi, the oldest of Pakkirisami’s five daughters.
Within a few hours, Poongodi was shifted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital where she remained in coma. A day later, the doctors suggested organ donation. “We were willing to donate her organs. We thought she could continue to live at least that way,” Ms. Thilagavathi said.
But it was not to be. Poongodi’s condition worsened and her blood pressure dropped. “Doctors told us she would not be able to withstand the long procedure of organ harvesting,” Ms. Thilagavathi said.
On Monday night, Poongodi passed away.
Poongodi had worked in a garment company until the beginning of the year. “She was lonely and suffered from ill health, so we told her to stay at home. Her marriage was fixed in March and after that there was no talk of her returning to work,” her sister said.
