The driver of the Haryana roadways bus, who was among the first to come to Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant’s rescue after his accident near Roorkee on Friday and called the emergency helpline number alerting police and highway authorities, said that he initially feared that the cricketer had died in the accident.
Susheel Kumar (42), a Haryana roadways bus driver at Panipat depot, told The Indian Express that his bus, ferrying over 30 passengers from Haridwar to Panipat, had left around 4.25 am on Friday.
“When we reached near Gurukul Narsan around 5.15 am, I could see that about 300 metres ahead, a car was approaching at high speed from the Delhi side. The car seemed to have lost control. Within seconds, it hit a divider, jumped across it, and turned upside down. For a minute, I feared the car may hit our bus… muje laga bachna mushkil hai, so I slowed down and quickly turned the bus to the right to avoid contact,” he said.
Susheel and the bus conductor, Paramjeet Singh, along with a few passengers jumped out of the bus to help the car driver.
“The car was engulfed in flames… I could not even tell which car it was… when I got down from the bus, I thought the driver is dead. He was bleeding, had injuries on his head, back… the conductor and I pulled him out and took him to the side. We immediately called 112 and alerted police and highway authorities. After 2-3 minutes, he regained consciousness,” he said.
Susheel said Pant introduced himself as a cricketer with the Indian team.
“Khud hi bataaya ki main Indian team mein cricketer hoon… We asked him if he was alone and he replied that he was travelling alone. He then asked us to call his mother, but her phone was switched off. He was shivering and we borrowed a quilt from a passenger on the bus and gave it to him to keep him warm. He was shaken up and did not speak much. The police teams and ambulance arrived shortly after,” said Susheel, adding that he had not recognised the cricketer.
“I do not follow cricket. I am from Haryana… I am more into kabaddi,” he said.
Hailing from Ballah village near Karnal, Susheel said he has been driving a bus for over nine years and has seen several mishaps on the highways. “My first instinct is always to rescue and help the victims. In winters, often there is fog in the morning, as was the case yesterday too, and accidents on highways are common. I feel it is my duty to help irrespective of who the person is in such circumstances,” he said.
