Kolhapur man declared dead by docs walks home over two weeks’ later
A Kolhapur man, declared dead after a heart attack, was revived when an ambulance hit a speed breaker, prompting his family to seek further medical help.
A 65-year-old Kolhapur resident, Pandurang Ulpe, returned home alive and ticking more than two weeks after being declared dead by doctors at a local clinic, owing to a twist of fate that involved an ambulance and a speed breaker.
On December 16, Ulpe, who resides in Kasaba-Bawada area of Kolhapur city, suffered a heart attack. As he fell off his bed, beads of perspiration on his body, the family rushed him to a nearby private clinic in Kolhapur.
Doctors at the hospital however pronounced him dead as there was no movement in his body. His family, devastated by the news, arranged for an ambulance to transport what they believed was his body back home where relatives and neighbours had gathered for his last rites.
As the ambulance drove on, hitting a speed breaker, Ulpe’s son noticed some movement in his fingers. The son then alerted his sister, who works as a nurse in another hospital, to check Ulpe’s pulse, family members said on Friday.
Ulpe’s wife said, “When we were taking his body home, the ambulance hit a speed breaker, and our son saw his fingers moving. He alerted our daughter who is a nurse, who also checked. Then she, along with other members, quickly decided to take him to another hospital.”
Realising that Ulpe was still alive, the family rushed him to another hospital instead of continuing to their home or crematorium. At the second hospital, Ulpe underwent treatment, including an angioplasty, and remained under medical care for two weeks.
On Monday, he walked home on his own two feet, shocking relatives and neighbours who had mourned his ‘death’ barely days before.
Recalling the events of December 16, Ulpe, who is a Warkari (a devotee of Lord Vitthal), said, “I had just returned home from a walk and was sipping tea when I started feeling dizzy and breathless. I went to the bathroom and vomited. After that, I don’t remember anything—not even who took me to the hospital.”
So far, the clinic that initially declared Ulpe dead has not commented on the incident. The family remains relieved and grateful that the minor jolt in the ambulance saved Ulpe’s life, turning a moment of grief into a miracle.
