Burdwan, Nov. 22: A nurse riding pillion with her son on his motorcycle was seriously injured when the bike skidded while negotiating a diversion on National Highway 2B this morning in Burdwan.

Sumitra Paul was taken to the hospital by Abhijit Mukherjee, Congress MP and the President's son. Mukherjee also called up the Burdwan district magistrate and requested him to arrange for an ambulance to take her to Burdwan Medical College hospital.

The nurse, 47, has now been taken to the Institute of Neurosciences in Calcutta. She has suffered brain haemorrhage in the cranium region and was bleeding from the ear and nose.

Doctors in Burdwan said she required immediate surgery and specialised treatment, which was available only in Calcutta. Her husband Asit Paul, the branch manager of a nationalised bank in Calcutta, has been informed.

Sumitra was going to visit her relatives in Guskara along with her son Arghyam, a first-year BA student. Around 11.30am, Arghya, who was speeding along the highway, lost control. The bike fell, throwing off the woman onto the metalled road at Bhater. She was not wearing a helmet.

Mukherjee, who was on his way to his uncle's house in Jangipur, was about 300 metres behind the bike when the accident happened.

"My driver drew my attention to the accident. I saw a young man approaching my car and screaming for help. I saw a woman lying on the road. I got off the car and asked locals where the nearest hospital was. They told me it was Guskara primary health centre, about 7km from the spot," he said.

"We placed the unconscious woman on the backseat of my car along with her son and drove to the hospital. The doctor at the health centre said the injury was serious and she should to be taken to (Burdwan) medical college. The health centre did not have an ambulance then. So I called district magistrate Saumitra Mohan and sought his help. He sent an ambulance within half-an-hour," Mukherjee added.

Sumitra's son Arghya said he had not recognised Mukherjee.

"I am grateful to him for his help. He even gave me money in case I needed it. I repent not asking my mother to wear a helmet and for driving fast on the diversion. I hope my mother gets well soon."

Highway authorities said the bridge, under construction for the last one year and near which the accident took place, was almost complete. "We have put signboards asking drivers not to go beyond 20kmph. The bike was travelling much faster than that," an NH official said.