Kumarapuram, Trivandrum: Charles* nearly died.

He was going for a picnic when his car overturned. He was given first-aid and taken to KIMS. The ambulance carrying him took long to get there as the road to the hospital was all dug up. The driver feared that the violent shakes would harm him, and took a long deviation. It saved his life.

Charles had two broken neck bones, and three cracked vertebrae. After checking him, the doctor at the Emergency said: “The bone was touching his spine. If he had tried to sit up or move, he would have died or paralysed. Most people with neck injury die when they are being taken to hospitals.”

This was on October 9, 2009.

Today, nearly one year after that incident, the road from Kumarapuram to KIMS — a major hospital in the city — is still a deathtrap for many such patients. For a good part of the route, the road is no road at all.

Water seeps out from the middle of the road, flowing in all directions. Huge potholes greet ambulances as they speed to the hospital. Yentha spoke to an ambulance driver about the issue. He said: “The holes are very dangerous. Even if we go as slow as we can in ambulances, the vehicles still rocks from side to side. There are some patients who should not be moved at all. Their relatives raise concerns, but there is nothing we can do.”

The ambulances used to take the Ulloor route earlier. But according to the driver, that route is worse now. Also, they need to take the patients to the emergency section as fast as possible.