Why Do We Ignore Sleep?

Abstract

The promising young 33-year-old doctor, adored by his department at his Suffolk England hospital, had just completed a long night on duty. Three long marathon night shifts in a row had taken their toll on Dr. Ronak Patel, and he was eager to finally enjoy some well-deserved rest. It was just before 9:00 am when the young doctor climbed behind the wheel of his car to make the 40-mile drive home. Fatigued from his all-nighters, Ronak called his wife Helen on his hands-free phone. Although he was but a few miles from home, Ronak and Helen began singing to each other over the phone to keep him from falling asleep at the wheel. With Helen singing in time, Ronak’s voice suddenly stopped. With the phone line having fallen silent, Helen, in her worry, attempted to call him back – trying again and again – no less than 14 times. Fetching her car keys, she began driving the route from their home toward Ronak’s hospital. A mere 3 miles from her home, she was stopped by police who were setting up barricades around the scene of an auto accident. Even while singing to his wife, the young doctor had drifted from his lane, his small Volkswagen Gulf crashing headlong into an oncoming transport truck. The inquest into the young doctor’s death showed no mechanical failure of his car; the findings ultimately ruling that despite actively singing aloud to his wife while navigating the twisting curves of the road, the young doctor had nevertheless succumbed to sleep mere, minutes from his home.