Exhausted doctor died in car accident after falling asleep at the wheel while singing to his wife on a hands-free phone to try and stay awake
He crashed just three miles from his home and lost contact with his wife
A EXHAUSTED trainee doctor died in a car crash after working three long shifts, despite trying to keep himself awake by singing to his wife on a hands-free phone, an inquest heard.
Ronak Patel, training to be an anaesthetist, hit a lorry just before 9am on August 3 last year - it is thought he fell asleep just three miles from his home.
The 33-year-old's wife, Helen, said they had been singing to each other over the phone to help him stay awake before the call was cut off.
She told police she had tried to call him 14 times with no response before she decided to get in the car to go and find him.
Police then told her there had been an accident.
Ronak is thought to have fallen asleep on the A1088, near his home in Ixworth, Suffolk.
Instead of sleeping at the hospital after his last shift finished, the inquest heard he had been keen to get home - 40 miles away from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
Accident investigator PC Mark Webb said: "The most plausible explanation for the collision was that Dr Patel fell asleep."
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In a statement read out to the court, Peter Stimpson, the lorry driver, said he had seen Dr Patel's car come round a bend and start to drift across the road, ending up on the wrong side.
He was declared dead at the scene of the crash, with a broken neck and other injuries.
Yvonne Blake, Suffolk assistant coroner, concluded he died as a result of his car being involved in a collision with a heavy goods vehicle.
A spokesman for the hospital, where he had worked since February last year, said: "He was a highly regarded and capable doctor and was extremely popular within the department."
His mother, Mina Patel, said: "[He] was an inspiration to everyone he met."
The Times reported new research has revealed that the medical professions have the worst road accident rates.
Local GPs have the highest rate, with 13 per cent having made an "at-fault" claim in the past three years compared with the 6 per cent average for British workers.
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