Braveheart van driver dies saving schoolkids

VIRAR: A private van driver is being hailed as a braveheart hero in his village in Vasai after he sacrificed his life while trying to save four schoolchildren from being swept away in an overflowing nullah on Monday afternoon.
Police said driver Prakash Patil (44) had picked up the children from their school and was driving them home towards Vasai, in poor visibility through water-logged pockets.

As the bus drove through the Naringi village area in Virar, the adjoining nullah began to overflow.

“There were four children from Matrix Academy School seated in his van. Near Kahrodi junction, Patil encountered low visibility and heavy rain. There was around three-foot waterlogging in the area. He would not have been able to differnatiate between the road and the nullah and drove right towards its mouth,’’ a police officer from Arnala police station told TOI. Patil, though, appears to have sensed danger and promptly stopped the vehicle and asked the children to step out.

“He carried the children to a safety point. Two of the children slipped into the water but he pulled them out and deposited them on the road. However, since he was on the edge of the nullah, he slipped and was drawn in by the current,” said the police official.

The children screamed for help and alerted passersby about their “driver uncle” who had gone missing.

Patil’s body was fished out within a span of 20 minutes, 1.5km from the spot, said officials from the Virar (West) fire station. Patil’s body was taken Agashi hospital, Vasai.

Manohar Patil (55), Prakash’s brother said, “My brother was very helpful, even to strangers. He loved kids and would help anyone in need, no matter what time of the day it was. He would never argue or fight with anyone. He never thought about his life while helping those in need.”

Patil, a resident of Parol village in Vasai, had been driving the van for two years. He lived in a joint family with his wife who works in a family-owned farm, three children, his brother’s family of five, his mother and grandmother.

Speaking about the tragedy, Jayant Bajbale, deputy superintendent of Virar division, said, “After the investigation is complete, we will recommend a just compensation for Patil’s family, as he was the sole bread-winner. The administration will decide on it shortly.”