NEW DELHI: Fifty-three-year-old Ajit Singh has been bedridden since Feb 3 when an SUV being driven by a minor crashed into his cab after colliding with the motorcycle of Sahil Dhaneshra (23) in Dwarka. While the young biker died instantly, Singh suffered severe head and rib injuries. “Even breathing causes me pain,” he tells TOI from his house in Dwarka’s Ambrahi village.Singh, who earns Rs 25,000 a month, has been driving a cab for over two decades to support his family. Out of action after the accident, he stares at an uncertain future. The family’s income has shrunk to just Rs 10,000, which his 21-year-old son, Shivam, earns from his job at a private firm in Gurgaon. A third-year college student, Shivam now leaves home at dawn and returns past 11pm, sacrificing the time he once dedicated to study for his final exams.
“The burden of the entire household now rests on my son’s shoulders. I was the main earning member. My wife doesn’t have a job, and my two daughters are married. For the next six months, I have been advised bed rest. I need my wife’s help for even my basic needs,” says Singh, hoping for monetary compensation to sustain his family for the next few months.Singh recalls how he would often come across road accidents since he began driving in 2004. “Whenever I saw a crash, I would stop my car and pray for the victims. Gradually, I started wondering whether I should quit driving as the roads were becoming more dangerous by the day. But who knew I would be the one fighting for my life?” he says.On Feb 3, as Singh’s entire life flashed before his eyes moments after the crash, bystanders were busy recording videos. A group of college students pulled him from the wreckage and rushed him to hospital in an e-rickshaw. “If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have survived. My cab was completely crushed, and I couldn’t move,” he says.“The students somehow pulled me out of the cab and tried stopping cars so that someone would take me to hospital. But the drivers slowed down, looked for a second, and sped ahead. Finally, the kids could stop an e-rickshaw. They even managed to retrieve my phone, which was damaged, from my cab,” Singh says.Touching on Sahil’s death, Singh says, “As a parent, I cannot imagine what his mother must be going through. I hope she gets justice.”
