Parents of 21-year-old killed in accident donate his eyes

THANE: The parents of 21-year-old Nihar Gole, who lost his life in a car accident on the Eastern Express Highway early on Saturday, have donated his eyes. They felt this way their travel-loving son could continue seeing the world.

Gole's cousin and closest friend Yash Choughule had received his US visa. To celebrate the occasion, Gole, a resident of Thane's Shreerang Society, had gone with Yash and over 20 other friends to a hotel in Andheri East on Friday night.

Unfortunately, both Gole and Choughule died on the spot, while three others from their group were severely injured after their car lost control and rammed into a tanker when they were returning home.

Though still in shock, Gole's parents-retired Air India employee Pramod Gole and senior clerk at the Thane Municipal Corporation Neena Gole-donated the eyes of their only son.

"While two of the boys were dead on arrival, our emergency medical team rushed to stabilise the other three within the golden hour. Nihar Gole's parents arrived soon after hearing about the accident, and even though they were still in shock, they voluntarily told us they wanted to donate his eyes. They told us he loved travelling and, in this way, he would be able to see the world even after his death," said Dr. Sandeep Gore, head of emergency medicine at Mulund's Fortis hospital.

Speaking about the tragedy, advocate Madhavi Naik, a close friend of the deceased's mother Neena Gole, said, "Nihar, Pramod and Neena's only son, was conceived after 11 long years of trying. He was the apple of their eyes. He loved sports, travelling and putting up pictures on social media. We were sure he was going to be a very successful model."

Naik said the tragedy was compounded for the family who also lost Yash Choughule, Nihar's cousin and best friend.