Neelam Shinde, a 35-year-old Indian student met a tragic end on March 28. This occurred 14 months after she was hit by a vehicle and left in a comatose condition.
Shinde was a final-year student at California State University, pursuing an MS in engineering. She is originally from Wadgaon (Umbraj) in Maharashtra’s Satara district, and had done a one-year internship with NASA after doing a BE from Singhad Institute in Pune. Her funeral service was planned by relatives and friends on Tuesday at the Mount Vernon Memorial Park, California, as per Hindu rituals.
Shinde’s relatives told the Times of India that her skin and cornea had been extracted for donation after securing permission from her father, who was in Umbraj, near Karad in Satara district.
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“On March 28, the hospital administration conveyed that Nilam had passed away. Due to the war and health issues, her father could not go to the US to see her one last time. The hospital told us about organ donation. Nilam’s father, without a second thought, approved, and her skin and cornea were extracted. After that, the funeral was scheduled at 1pm (local time) on Tuesday,” said Sanjay Kadam, Nilam’s maternal uncle.
The accident took place on Feb 14, when Shinde was on her daily walk. Doctors performed immediate surgery to address the head injury, but her condition remained critical. She was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, where she stayed for months without significant neurological recovery During her treatment, complications arose, including an infection linked to a feeding tube. As her conditions continued to worsen, doctors decided to remove life-sustaining support on March 28.
To add to the tragedy, Nilam Shinde’s father Tanaji Shinde had faced complications while trying to obtain an emergency visa to travel to the U.S. Delays persisted despite repeated appeals.
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According to Nilam Shinde’s uncle Anand Shinde, when the family went to the U.S. consulate in Mumbai to get an emergency visa, their requests were ignored and the consulate “asked us to leave.” They also did not receive any help from the state government either. Later, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took up the family’s request for an urgent visa with U.S. authorities. Eventually, he managed to obtain a two-month visa.
According to media reports, one person had been arrested in connection with the accident.