Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed
- A doctor from Gujarat cancelled his Air India flight after falling ill, potentially saving his life.
- He was scheduled to fly to London on June 12, the same day the Air India Dreamliner crashed.
- His wife urged him to postpone travel due to his high fever, leading to the cancellation.
New Delhi:
A doctor from Gujarat cannot stop thanking his wife and family members after he cancelled an Air India flight in which he planned to fly to London on June 12.
Had he gone ahead, he would have been on the same Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed into a doctors’ hostel immediately after take-off, killing 241 in the aircraft and over 10 on the ground.
Dr Umang Patel came from the UK with his wife, sons and their grandparents to their ancestral home in Koydam village in Gujarat’s Mahisagar district on May 24. He planned to return to Britain’s Northampton on June 12 after leaving his family in India.
“I had to go back alone on June 12. However, I developed high fever after a visit to my in-laws’ house on June 9. The fever was so high I could not even stand the next morning,” Dr Patel said.
His wife, worried about his health, asked him to cancel the June 12 ticket and wait for some days till he got better. Dr Patel agreed.
“After my wife requested that I not go to London, I cancelled the June 12 ticket, took some time and booked another for June 15. Then the news of the plane crash came,” Dr Patel said. “God saved me. I also pray that God gives peace to all the souls who were on that aircraft.”
When word reached the villagers, many of them came to meet the family and offered support for mental strength to get over any trauma.
Dr Patel said he has been living in Northampton for the last five years. After coming to India last month, his father, who is also a doctor, suffered a stroke, due to which Dr Patel had to cancel a ticket he had booked for a return flight to London on June 2.
On June 9, he went to drop his wife at his in-laws’ place when he fell ill.
Dr Patel’s father Dr Umangbhai Patel said he and his wife had also not allowed their son to leave on June 12.
The London to Ahmedabad flight in which they came on May 24 was uneventful, except for some broken multimedia player buttons and an air-conditioning vent that did not work, Dr Patel added.
