At least 10 heart attack deaths have been reported at garba events across Gujarat in the past 24 hours and the youngest of the victims was just 17 years old.
Over 500 ambulance calls were made in 24 hours and the government has also issued an alert and asked the organisers of such events to take all necessary measures, including ensuring that ambulances are available to take people to hospitals if they feel unwell.
One such heartbreaking incident took place in the Kapadvanj town in Kheda district, where 17-year-old Veer Shah suddenly felt unwell and his nose started bleeding while playing garba at an event. He was immediately rushed to a hospital. By the time his parents, who were celebrating at another event, reached the hospital, he had been declared dead and a heart attack was said to be the cause of death.
With folded hands, Ripal Shah made an appeal to other revellers: "Please stay aware. Don't play garba for long stretches of time without taking a break. I have lost my son today, I hope the same does not happen to anybody else."
When revellers at the event where Veer was playing garba heard about his death, they observed a two-minute silence in his memory. The organisers decided to cancel the event for the next day and many other organisers in Kapadvanj followed suit.
Similar cases, including the deaths of people in their 20s, have been reported in Ahmedabad, Navsari and Rajkot as well.
13-Year-Old Dies
Shockingly, a 13-year-old also died of a heart attack in Vadodara district's Dabhoi. Vaibhav Soni was returning from a garba event on a cycle when he fell and suffered minor injuries. He was taken to a hospital and some tests, including an X-ray, were conducted and he was discharged.
Vaibhav complained of chest pain later and his family put him to sleep after giving him some medicine. When he did not wake up a few hours later, he was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Officials said it is unclear whether the boy's heart attack was linked to playing garba.
Doctor's Advice
Speaking to NDTV, Dr Anurag Mehrotra, chairman of the cardiology department at Siddh Hospital, said data from the Indian Council of Medical Research states that over 11% of people in India are diabetic, more than 15% are pre-diabetic, 36% are hypertensive and more than 50% are obese. All of these lead to problems in heart arteries.
"In most of these patients, there is evidence of coronary artery disease. The age for the onset of conronary artery disease (plaque buildup in the wall of the arteries), hypertension and diabetes has come down. We have a young population, but it is not very healthy," Mr Mehrotra said.
"The second aspect is that if you do something that you are not accustomed to and you are exposed to that sort of exercise, these incidents occur," he added.
The doctor advised that organisers of such events should keep automated external defibrillators which can help save lives in such situations and also have some people who are trained in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
He also stressed that people need to improve their lifestyle, avoid being sedentary and consume less processed and ultra-processed food.
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