PUNE: A 41-year-old mother of two showed grit and great composure as she took controls of the steering of a bus she was travelling in with 32 other women and children after the driver of the vehicle suffered a seizure.
Wagholi resident Yogita Satav recounts her experience of January 7, a day out in picnic that was unfolding perfectly but only to climax in an edge-of-the-seat thriller on road.
“I cannot fathom that learning to drive would come in handy and play such a big role in saving a person’s life. I am being recognized for it, something which is overwhelming for me and my family,” said Satav, who had learnt driving before her marriage.
On January 7, a group of 22 women, including Satav, and 10 children, had gone on a picnic to Morachi Chincholi, a spot in the interiors of Shikrapur at Shirur taluka of Pune.
“The outing was fun-filled. Other than the driver there was no adult men in the group. After spending the day there, we started on our way back home around 5.30pm. We had travelled for half an hour when the driver suddenly said he wasn’t feeling well. The following moments were all the more scare when the driver said that his vision was getting blurry,” Satav told TOI.
The mother of two children aged eight and 14 said, “We got afraid and asked him to pull over and rest for some time. But as he was getting down from the driver’s seat, he collapsed and suffered a seizure. He was screaming in pain. By the time we managed to pick the driver up and make him sit, many women and children were weeping.”
One of the women called up the travel company from where the bus was booked but they realized it would take at least two hours for another driver to reach the spot where they had stopped.
“I have never driven a bus before but decided to take to the wheels, as the driver needed to be hospitalised. My friends were confused and warned me on driving but I had made up my mind. I sat on the driver’s seat and quickly went through the gears trying to understand them as driving a car and driving a bus are different things,” she said.
“I started with a slow drive. The road was narrow and broken so it took me some time to get myself settled in. Soon, we got out of that stretch and came to a proper road. I accelerated,” narrated the Good Samaritan.
“A few women guided me and they called the vehicle owner asking him to reach a private hospital at Shikrapur. I must have driven for around 25kms to reach the hospital. The driver was admitted to the hospital immediately. In a while, the bus owner came with another driver. From there on, the new driver took over and drove us back to Wagholi,” she said.
“I feel learning to drive was the best thing I had done, as it saved a man’s life,” Satav said. Her husband Dharmandra Satav, a person with special needs, lauded his wife’s action. “
She was quick on deciding to drive the bus. It saved a person. I am proud of her,” Dharmandra said.
