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Social media influencer helps semi-comatose accident victim get medical help at KEM Hospital
Ankita Prabhuwalawalkar, a social media influencer with 145k followers, helped a 23-year-old patient from Sindhudurg get medical help after he was allegedly not receiving proper treatment at KEM Hospital in Mumbai. Prabhuwalawalkar arranged a tertiary care facility at KEM Hospital and raised funds of INR4.71 lakh ($6,300) for his treatment. However, the hospital?s CT scan machine was not working, and the patient's relatives were asked to get the scan done elsewhere. Prabhuwalawalkar got in touch with KEM Hospital authorities, who arranged an ambulance and a trainee doctor to take the patient to Wadia Hospital for the CT scan.
Mumbai: Lalbaug-based Ankita Prabhuwalawalkar with 145k followers, used her social media influencer tag to get medical help for a 23-year-old patient from Sindhudurg who was allegedly not getting proper medical treatment at KEM Hospital, Parel.
Earlier this month, Prabhuwalawalkar, who is also a native of Sindhudurg, was asked by fellow influencer from the region if she could arrange a tertiary care facility for Kiran Chavan, who has been unconscious for a month. He had met with a bike accident and was admitted to a local hospital in Sindhudhurg.
Prabhuwalawalkar got in touch with KEM Hospital for a bed and, with the help of the other influencer, gathered funds of ₹4.71 lakh for his treatment. “The family spent ₹40,000 to bring him to KEM Hospital. He was admitted on June 14. However, the hospital asked the relative to take him out for a CT scan saying the hospital’s CT scan machine is not working,” she said.
Satyawan Rawool, Chavan’s uncle, said while they somehow managed to take him to a nearby diagnostic facility for the CT scan. However, they could not get the test done as Chavan kept moving.
“He was in semi-coma state and moving. They said the CT scan can be performed only with anaesthesia and we were sent back,” said Rawool.
With Chavan’s family struggling for 24-hours at KEM Hospital figuring out what to do next, they again got in touch with Prabhuwalawalkar.
“I was not in the city and was unaware of the ordeal that the family was put through. I used my influences and got in touch with the KEM Hospital authorities who then arranged an ambulance and a trainee doctor to take Chavan to Wadia Hospital for the CT scan,” she said.
While Chavan got the much-needed medical help, Prabhuwalwalkar posted a video of KEM Hospital and her experience, saying it is not just about one patient but about a complete health system that has failed.
In her post, she said the doctors cannot be blamed as they are already under pressure. She said it is the hospital administration’s lookout to avoid such happenings.
According to a doctor from the radiology department, the hospital has two CT scan machines out of which one has been non-functional for the last year.
“The functional CT scan machine is in operation throughout 24 hours due to which we keep facing technical issues. The CT scan was hit by a technical snag again and has been non-functional for the last three to four days,” said the doctor.
Dr Harish Pathak, acting dean, KEM hospital said, “Chavan’s relatives were asked to get the CT scan done from outside because our CT scan machine was not functional due to a technical fault.”
