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Navi Mumbai: Driving while suffering a chest pain cost the life of a pedestrian. Doctors strongly advise against self-driving during a medical emergency like chest pain, as it can lead to catastrophic consequences, as seen in a recent tragic incident that was reported on Monday.

About The Case

A 32-year-old Reliance employee- Aniket Nalawade- who began experiencing chest pain on the morning of May 19, decided to drive himself to the hospital for an ECG on his family doctor’s advice. “While on his way, he suddenly lost consciousness—likely due to reduced blood flow to the brain—causing his car to crash into a pedestrian. The collision resulted in the death of the pedestrian, while the driver himself suffered an eye injury and became unresponsive,” Rahul Peddawad, Director of White Lotus International Hospital in Kalamboli said, adding, “While suffering chest pain, one should never drive and instead take an ambulance, taxi or auto to the hospital to avoid such accidents. The patient in this case, passed out which caused the collision. He was unconscious and he did not know anything about the accident.”

His wife, who was with him in the car, acted swiftly, hailing an autorickshaw and rushing him to White Lotus International Hospital around 11:30 a.m. At the hospital’s emergency department, Dr. Vijay D’Silva, Dr. Sameer Saikia, Dr. Krishna Shukla, and the nursing team immediately initiated high-quality CPR after identifying that the man had gone into cardiac arrest. After 15 minutes of continuous resuscitation efforts, the team successfully revived him.

“An ECG performed post-resuscitation confirmed a massive heart attack. Given the involvement of a road traffic accident, the medical team prioritized ruling out head injury before administering blood thinners or clot-dissolving medication. A CT scan ruled out any brain hemorrhage, clearing the way for an urgent coronary angiography. The angiography revealed a complete (100%) blockage in the major heart artery (LAD). Senior cardiologist Dr. Anuj Sathe promptly performed a life-saving angioplasty,” Dr Ali Muddabir, Chairman of the hospital.

Following the procedure, the patient was shifted to the ICU for further care. Given the prolonged duration of CPR, there was a significant risk of permanent brain damage, prompting the ICU team to initiate therapeutic hypothermia. “Fortunately, after 24 hours of intensive care, the patient regained full consciousness, showing no signs of neurological deficits. He was successfully extubated and is now recovering in the hospital ward. His discharge is expected soon,” Dr Peddawad said.

In the accident, a house keeping staff of the same hospital, Om Tambe (20), was killed. “In the cases of heart attack, if the patient is not revived in three minutes, the bran can get affected. In this case, miraculously, even after passing of 15 minutes, the patient could be revived. In further recovery, it can be known if his liver and kidney are affected,” Dr Peddawad added.

Senior police Inspector Rajendra Kote from Kalamboli Police said, “We have booked Nalawade for causing death by negligence, rash driving, endangering life of the BNS Act and sections of Motor Vehicle Act. He would be served with the notice once he is discharged.”