Help pours in: Noida college pools Rs 5 lakh, cops donate a day's pay

GREATER NOIDA: Doctors at the city hospital where BTech student Sweety Kumari, who was hit by a car on New Year's Eve, is being treated said on Thursday that her brain injury is healing but it will take at least two more weeks for her condition to improve.
Sweety was flung into the air as a car ploughed into her while she was walking home in Beta-2 area on December 31. She was operated for head trauma, after which she slipped into a coma and was on ventilator support. The final-year student also sustained seven fractures to her legs.
The 22-year-old regained consciousness on Wednesday. "Sweety's health has improved but it will take at least two more weeks to get better," said BK Sharma, DGM at Kailash Hospital in Greater Noida.
Her parents are allowed to see her at the ICU twice a day. She has been opening her eyes and is responding to her mother's touch.
Sweety's father Shiv Nandan Pal, a farmer from Patna, told TOI on Thursday that the family didn't have the money to pay her college fees.
Just after school, she saved up some money and used it to appear for the BTech entrance test. "I paid the initial tuition fees and she took an education loan of Rs 4 lakh. I remember going to the bank to sign some documents," Pal said.
A zonal basketball player, Sweety was to take her final-year examinations from Friday. Since the accident, her college teachers, administration and her friends have been pooling funds for her hospital bills.
The Greater Noida Institute of Technology (GNIOT) administration said it has collected Rs 5 lakh for Sweety. "The administration donated Rs 1 lakh, and the teachers and students have also pitched in. We have assured Sweety's parents that they don't need to worry about the cost of treatment," said Pankaj Singh, the head of admission cell at GNIOT.
Help is pouring in from others too. All cops from the Noida police commissionerate have contributed a day's salary, totaling Rs 10 lakh, for Sweety's treatment. Pal said he had also been getting calls from strangers, and one person had even visited the hospital on Thursday, offering to help. On Thursday, Sweety's friends from college said they are praying for her recovery. "We keep looking at her Instagram account and hope that she recovers soon," said Ashirwad Mani Tripathi.