Former cricketer Vinod Kambli will probably never complain if he is ever stopped by the traffic police. After all, it was the traffic police department who saved his life on Friday morning when he suffered a heart attack while driving back to Bandra, where he lives, from Chembur.

It was due to the prompt action on the part of Sujata Patil, police inspector attached with the Matunga traffic division, and her team that Kambli was admitted to Lilavati Hospital within 12 minutes following the incident.

Kambli had reportedly gone to Chembur for personal work. He was heading back to his Bandra residence in his white Pajero, which he was driving himself, when he started experiencing severe chest pain near Highway Apartments in Sion, on the Eastern Express Highway.

Talking to dna, Patil said, “Traffic police constable Kumardutt Shedge was managing the movement of vehicles when he spotted a Pajero stationed in the middle of the road, forcing other vehicles to halt. He approached the car and found Kambli behind the wheel. When he asked him why he had stopped his car in the middle of the road, Kambli said he needed to be rushed to the hospital as he was experiencing severe pain in the chest.”

Shedge immediately called Patil, who was stationed at the next junction, and asked her for help.

“I rushed to the spot and found Kambli perspiring and wincing in pain. We called for a private driver and made Kambli lie down on the rear seat along with a police constable, who kept massaging his chest,” Patil said adding that Kambli was crying throughout the journey, both in pain and scared about what would happen if he did not reach the hospital in time.

To ensure that the traffic during the morning rush hour wouldn’t slow them down and worsen Kambli’s condition, Patil alerted the control room and informed them to clear the traffic between Sion to Bandra.

Thanks to their presence of mind, the Pajero entered Lilavati Hospital in a record 12 minutes. Kambli was rushed to the emergency ward, where the doctors started treating him straight away.

The police had informed Kambli’s wife Andrea about the incident and had called for an ambulance. However, the ambulance could not reach Sion due to traffic congestion.

“Kambli was in a critical condition when he was admitted at the hospital. We are still shivering with fear thinking that the situation could have gotten worse had he not been admitted on time,” Patil said.

Kambli’s wife Andrea said, “Vinod is stable and recovering.” Kambli is undergoing treatment under Dr JP Jadwani, cardiologist at Lilavati Hospital.

Sources at the hospital said that he had undergone various tests to determine his health condition and was currently under observation. In July 2012, Kambli had undergone angioplasty on two of his blocked arteries.

Traffic inspector Patil was in the news last year for writing a poem on the Azad Maidan riots. Activists had raised a furore, saying it incited communal hatred. She had later apologised for it.(With inputs by Maitri Porecha)

How it played outVinod Kambli was heading to Bandra from Chembur in his car when he started experiencing severe chest pain. He asked traffic police constable Kumardutt Shedge to be rush him to a hospital. To ensure the morning rush hour wouldn’t slow them down, traffic inspector Sujata Patil asked the control room to clear traffic between Sion to Bandra, helping them reach Lilavati Hospital in a record 12 minutes.