On July 28, Poganti Rambabu, the owner of a dhaba in Vijayawada was travelling to Vishakapatnam in a car with a friend. Along the way, he planned to meet a Facebook friend, EVV Satyanarayana, who lived in Rajamandalam village, for the first time.
Rambabu had become a member of the Facebook group named “Godarolla Kitakitalu” which was started by Satyanarayana in March 2016. Both frequently exchanged messages and were also active contributors on the group.
A little before he reached Rajamandalam village, Rambabu called EVV Satyanarayana, and asked if they could meet. Unfortunately, Rambabu was running late, and the meeting couldn’t happen.
However, near Rajahmundry, Rambabu’s car hit another car coming from the opposite direction on the highway. Rambabu suffered severe head injuries in the accident.
Since Satyanarayana’s was one of the last numbers called, Rambabu called him as he lay wounded.
“I got a call from Rambabu at 12.10am saying he had met with an accident and immediately the call got cut. I again got a call from police who were patrolling in the area. They informed me that Rambabu was in a critical condition and was bleeding severely,” said Satyanarayana.
Satyanarayana immediately rushed to the spot and helped get Rambabu to a local government hospital. However, doctors there failed to control the bleeding. Rambabu had undergone a heart surgery and had had a stent implanted in his heart six months ago, and this was interfering with the doctors’ attempts to stop the bleeding.
After several attempts, doctors succeeded in controlling the bleeding, but insisted on shift Rambabu to another hospital for further treatment. Rambabu was then shifted to Bollineni hospital in Rajahmundry. There, he was treated for his head injuries and received 50 stitches on various wounds.
Satyanarayana stayed with Rambabu all night, and in the morning called the latter’s family and told them about the accident. “I didn’t want to bother his family members at midnight. I waited till morning, and after Rambabu’s condition started to improve, I called and informed his family members at five in the morning,” Satyanarayana said.
At around 10am, Rambabu’s family arrived and shifted him to a hospital in Vijayawada, closer to their village.
Rambabu, who is recovering from his injuries, told TNM, “If Satyanarayana hadn’t come to my rescue, I would have been lying on the road in a place where I don’t know anyone. He gave me a second life.”
After finding out about the accident, two more friends from the Facebook group, Murali from Vijayawada and Ravi Chandra from Hyderabad, visited Rambabu in the hospital.
Expressing his happiness at the friends he had made, Rambabu said, “A couple of my Facebook friends came to the hospital only to see me. We all met at the hospital for the first time.”
The ‘Godarolla Kitakitalu’ group was formed on Facebook for people from East Godavari and West Godavari, who share a native slang and a love for sarcasm. The group now has 6000 members from various corner of the world. “I get messages from our members living in USA, Saudi. They say our posts make them feel like they are at home,” said Satyanarayana.