One of the scourges of our lives just did something miraculous.
India's much-derided potholes - which have caused everything from annoyance and exasperation to injuries and even deaths - turned out to be a literal lifesaver for an 80-year-old man, after his untimely 'death' from a chest infection.
Declared dead by doctors, the 'body' of Darshan Singh Brar was being taken to his home near Karnal, where mourning relatives had gathered, food had been laid out and wood had been collected for his funeral, when the ambulance hit a pothole in India’s Haryana state.
It was then that the vehicle hit a major pothole and Mr. Brar’s grandson, who was with him at the time, suddenly noticed his hand moving. Checking his pulse and finding - to his great shock - there was one, he notified the driver to immediately go to the nearest hospital where, remarkably, he was declared alive. He is now undergoing treatment at a hospital in Karnal where he is "critical, but breathing".
“It is a miracle. Now we are hoping that my grandfather recovers soon,” said Balwan Singh, another of Mr. Brar’s grandsons. “Everyone who had gathered to mourn his death congratulated us, and we requested them to have the food we had arranged. It is God’s grace that he is now breathing and we are hoping he will get better.”