Party hearties abandon driver to heart attack... Hanging on: Goverdhan Vaidya was discharged on Thursday after three days in the ICU at St George Hospital. For daughter Sunita, getting her dad back home is her "best Diwali gift ever". Guardian Angel: Vijay Shekhar got Vaidya to hospital in the nick of time.
Three men holding key positions in one of India's biggest private sector companies were on their way to a party at their boss's swanky Cuffe Parade home, when driver Goverdhan Vaidya, who is in his mid fifties, suffered a cardiac arrest.
The men asked him to stop the car, which was at Cooperage, helped him out and sat him down on the pavement.
Then, they got back in the car and drove off to the party, leaving a breathless Vaidya holding his chest in excruciating pain.
... Man who gets him to hospital and gives him life
Three men holding top jobs in one of the country's largest private sector companies were on their way to a party at their boss's swanky home in South Mumbai at 9 pm on October 12.
At the wheel of the Honda City was driver Goverdhan Vaidya.
At the Cooperage junction, Vaidya, who is in his midfifties, felt the first symptoms of a heart attack.
"When I think back, I had been feeling uneasy for a while. But at the Cooperage junction, I felt terrible. It was impossible to drive.
My chest hurt like it was being beaten by a thousand sledgehammers and I couldn't breathe properly. I told the three men in the backseat that I needed to stop for a while."
Left to die
Seconds after he parked at the curb, Vaidya slumped over the steering wheel. "I saw the men open the door and drag me out of the car. They made me sit on the pavement.
I could barely register what was happening, as I felt really ill and I was sitting with my head on my knees, holding my chest.
Just then, I felt the car zoom past. I looked up and saw the men drive away, but I was in such severe pain that I couldn't even shout at them to stop and help me," said Vaidya, Enter Vijay Shekhar, who works with a TV channel.
"At first glance, I thought the man wanted to defecate, but I looked closely and realised he was in severe pain. He was holding his chest and I knew he was having a heart attack. 
I had seen the car zoom off and I asked the man for their phone number, so that he could be hospitalised."
Vaidya managed to give him the number and Shekhar called, but it went unanswered. Shekhar's wife Shobha, who was also with him, gave Vaidya Disprin, known to be effective during a heart attack.
To hospital
"I realised he had to be hospitalised immediately, as his condition was worsening every minute and we took him to St George Hospital in my car," said Shekhar.
Doctors at St George, who were treating Vaidya, said, "His condition was very bad and he was breathless. It was a cardiac failure and had he not been rushed to hospital, it could have proved fatal."
Meanwhile, Shekhar's wife who had been continuously calling the men, finally got through two hours since the incident. "I told the man that his driver had been hospitalised after a heart attack.
But unbelievably, the man was reluctant to listen to me. I had no option but to threaten him with a police complaint, and sure enough, it worked," said Shobha.
Reluctant return
The three men came to Cooperage where the Shekhars were waiting. "The men told me that they couldn't be bothered with the police threat, as the party they were at was attended by several senior cops," said Shobha.
In fact, said Shobha, "they behaved as though they were doing us a favour".
And by way of explanation for abandoning the driver, the men pointed out they did not know him. He was the replacement for the regular driver.
"We left him on the streets so that he could get fresh air and feel better," said one of the men.
Meanwhile, Vaidya, who has been discharged yesterday, is recuperating at home in Thane, out of danger.
"We were very scared when Shekharji called us and said my father had been hospitalised. He seemed perfectly fine when he left home in the morning and look what the night brought.
And I can't believe people would actually abandon a grievously ill man to go to a party.
I thank the family who saved my father by hospitalising him. The fact that my father is well now is the best Diwali gift we can hope for," said Sunita (25), his daughter
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