Daijiworld Media Network - Shivamogga (SP)
Shivamogga, Jul 4: A married woman from here, during the tour of Hawaii, opted to undertake scuba diving. During this under-water experience, she consumed copious amount of water and slipped into coma. As per information received, she is comatose since four days.
Seetharamakrishna, software engineer working for Yahoo.com at San Jose, California, had undertaken trip to picturesque Hawaii islands in USA along with wife, Shruti (20), when tragedy struck. During scuba diving there underwater, Shruti went through this harrowing experience.
Shruti, daughter of Vishwanath from Lakkavalli in Chikkamagaluru district, had married Seetharamakrishna from Vijayawada a year back. The couple, who had settled down in California, took off for a week to be able to undertake trip to Hawaii.
During the period she was scuba diving on June 30, the oxygen pipe worn by Shruti fell off, depriving her of oxygen supply. Water then entered her lungs. Although expert divers plunged into action and brought her out of water immediately, Shruti had already slipped into coma by then. The doctors, it is said, have advised Seetharamakrishna to get her parents to Hawaii soon as they hope that the lady might respond to their voices and gain consciousness. However, Vishwanath and his wife have not been able to travel to USA as they do not possess passports. Seetharamakrishna has approached officials of Indian Embassy at USA for help.
Vishwanath met additional deputy commissioner of the district, Dr M Lokesh, and explained to him the problem. The official asked the couple to file application under Tatkal scheme. In addition, he also spoke to regional passport officer and requested him to arrange for immediate issuance of passport. The family also met MP, B S Yeddyurappa, and explained to him their predicament.
Yeddyurappa said that he has spoken to passport officials and also minister for external affairs, Sushma Swaraj. He said that the couple would be able to undertake journey to Hawaii in a couple of days. The couple's passport interview has been set for Tuesday July 4.