Patel died tragically in ambulance crash on Saturday.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: An Indian American Rutgers University student and emergency health worker based in New Jersey, Hinal Patel, 22, died on Saturday morning when a car slammed into an ambulance in East Brunswick, police said.
Patel had been preparing to start next month at the institution’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences as she came to work her last shift with Spotswood EMS on Saturday, NJ Advance Media reported.
Patel and the ambulance’s driver, Mark Seube, were driving west on Ryders Lane near Cranbury Road with their lights and sirens on while hurrying to an accident elsewhere in the town south of Staten Island at around 8 a.m., said East Brunswick police Lt. Kevin F Zebro, reported the Daily News.
But a 2013 Toyota Prius t-boned the ambulance as the emergency team drove through the intersection. The ambulance crashed down on its side and careened into another car, Zebro said.
Patel died in the collision, but Seube and the driver of the Prius, Kathleen Meade, 58, suffered only non-life threatening injuries, according to police. The driver of the third car was not hurt in the crash.
Police haven’t arrested or charged anyone in the fatal accident, WABC-TV reported Saturday night.
The Associated Press reported today, Monday, that family and friends are remembering Patel at the funeral in New Brunswick. Emergency responders from across the state are expected to attend the services.
Family members and friends of Patel, who lived in nearby Piscataway and received her degree in biological sciences from Rutgers earlier this year, are trying to come to terms with her tragic death, they told NJ Advance Media.
“She was the most amazing person I ever knew,” said Bianca Patel, a close friend who is not related to her. “She’s saved thousands and thousands of people. … I just wish someone had a chance to help her.”
Hinal Patel planned to pursue medical school to become a physician or physician’s assistant after her graduate program, but she had been working as an EMT for the North Stelton Volunteer Fire Company since September 2012, reported the News.
She volunteered for five years at Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick before she started with North Stelton, the North Stelton company said in a statement. Her hometown firefighters draped black bunting over their building and one of the company’s ambulances in her honor on Saturday.
“Hinal was a very smart, dedicated member of our family and she will be greatly missed,” the company’s statement said.
Neel Patel, 18, was Hinal’s brother and only sibling, reported NJ Advance Media.
“She really loved medicine,” Neel said. “Some people just do this EMT stuff to make it look good on their resume or whatever. But she was truly passionate about (being an) EMT and what she was doing.”
The siblings attended Rutgers together and Neel said his sister was always helping him, always teaching how to get around.
“She would always look after me,” Neel said. “She’s the one constant in my life. She’s always been there.”
1 Comment
Fantastic baby