On 20th of January 2017, around 1:30 pm a man named Dimitrious “Jimmy” Gargasoulas drove a red Holden Commodore into pedestrians on Bourke Street in Melbourne CBD. The red car used in this crime was stolen from a man who was Gargasoulas’ neighbour. It came to light that Gargasoulas was wanted for a stabbing attack that morning on his brother and was wanted by police.
He did burnouts at the crossing outside Flinders Street station before driving to Bourke street where he drove the car into unsuspecting pedestrians. A total of six people died due to this incident and at least thirty others have been injured, some in critical condition.
One of the critically injured victims is Nethra Krishnamurthy. Nethra was in her first week back at work after maternity leave and was returning to office at lunch time after breastfeeding her eight-month-old baby in day care, when she was run over in Bourke Street on Friday. She is a software engineer at IT company Mexia in Bourke Street, between Elizabeth and Queen Streets. Nethra was with her husband at that time and when they saw the car approaching, her husband stepped onto the road from the footpath, but Nethra turned around to run towards a building for shelter. Unfortunately, the car was at a fast speed and hit her from behind. According to eye witnesses, she was thrown up 10 or 12 meters in the air before hitting the ground. Nethra, who is in her 30s, sustained serious injuries, including deep lacerations to her head, a punctured lung, damage to her liver and kidneys, as well as broken ribs and three fractures to her spine.
She had been in coma in intensive care for a while but on Monday woke up and was responsive. She remains critical but in a stable condition in The Alfred.
Mohan Kumar (left) with his wife, Nethra Krishnamurthy and infant son, Hari. Source: Facebook
Even though, that Friday’s tragedy did not distinguish on the basis of age, gender, culture or religion, neither did goodness of people. Bystanders, officer workers, shoppers, all sprang into action to help the victims. In fact, according to paramedics, Nethra’s life was probably saved by two office workers who attended to her injuries before medical help arrived.
The kindness and generosity did not just end there. Since, Nethra’s and her husband have no family here in Australia, Nethra’s colleague and family friend, Amrit Sindhu, was listed as the emergency contact. Amrit, collected Nethra’s son from childcare that day and took him home. Since both the families were close and frequently got together, the child was familiar with Amrit and his family which consists of his wife and a five-year-old daughter.
Amrit Sidhu told SBS Punjabi the first week was the most difficult as the baby did not take a milk bottle or solids properly. But they patiently tried every day and eventually the baby adjusted to the new routine. Amrit consulted with his company and worked from home for a few days to care for the baby while Nethra was in coma in hospital with her husband attending to her. Amrit’s wife too, worked from home so they could split the responsibility of caring for the little life.
Nethra’s mother arrived a day after the attack and stayed with Amrit’s family as well. Amrit told SBS Punjabi that they are close friends with Nethra and her husband and they wanted to do whatever was possible to give the child proper care while his mother recovered in hospital.
Amrit Sidhu with his wife and five year old daughter Source: Supplied
Amrit informed SBS Punjabi that their company provided Nethra’s family with a rented serviced apartment close to the hospital after Nethra regained consciousness, so that the family could be closer to her. The doctors also advised that the baby should visit Nethra so that she feels happy re assured that the baby is doing well which may also help in her recovery.
Amrit’s case is one of many cases of generosity and selflessness that our community has witnessed after this tragic incident.
Because of the severity of Nethra’s injuries, is it given that she will remain in hospital for quite some time and even when she is released from hospital, will face a long road to recovery. Keeping this in mind, her company started an on-line funding page to help with the financial cost of her care. According to Amrit, a total of approximately $1,29,000 were collected for her.
Not only this, the Scoresby Cricket collected money to support her family. A cheque of $3,000 was presented to Daniel Tubb last Sunday which Amrit Sidhu deposited in Nethra’s account.
Amrit also informed SBS Punjabi that their company has decided to match the same amount and donate another $3,000 to Nethra.
Source: Supplied
