Actor Hemant Birje, his wife Amana, and daughter Reshma are recuperating from injuries after they met with an accident on Tuesday night. Birje says, “I am alright now. Yes, I have body pain, a few injuries on my forehead. My wife is also hurt. But God has been kind that we are alive.”

Birje was driving to his “birth and native place” Pune from Mumbai, when his car rammed into the road divider at the Urse toll booth on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway.

Narrating the episode, Birje shares, “I had tablets for the viral fever. I was drowsy because of the medicine. Suddenly my eyes were shutting on the Express Highway. Once you close your eyes (then) right-left jo aaya usko thokte chale gaye.”

Although Birje’s car crashed and was “outbalanced”, no one else was hurt. “The locals took us to the hospital. I was unconscious till then,” he recalls.

Birje “regrets” driving despite him feeling drowsy. “Now when I think about it, I should have stopped and slept for some time. Pune was just 30 minutes away so I thought I’ll stretch it. I will reach home and sleep nicely. And it’s even written on those medicines that one shouldn’t drive after taking them. I didn’t read them,” he laments.

No action has been taken against Birje, he reveals the police was cordial and cooperative.