Washington, Feb 28 : The US Embassy on Friday granted a visa to the family of an Indian student who suffered critical injuries in a road accident in Washington and has been comatose since then.

The student identified as Nilam Shinde, 35, a post-graduate student at California State University, suffered fractures in both arms and both legs after a car hit her from behind on February 14.

She required brain surgery and has been comatose since then.

Shinde is still in a critical condition, but her health has shown slight improvements, her family said.

The family, hailing from Maharashtra's Satara district, which had lost hope of seeing Shinde after several attempts to get a visa failed, will be taking the next flight to the country.

The family members, who will be going to visit the comatose patient include Shinde's father, cousin brother, and uncle.

Talking to NDTV, Shinde's cousin Gaurav said that the visa interview process was very smooth and thanked the media and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule.

He also shared that they will seek a loan to visit the US.

He also urged the Centre to change the visa process. "No other family should experience what we went through. These procedures should be changed for emergencies," he said.

It may be mentioned that after learning about the accident, the family applied for a US visa but got the interview slot for next year.

The family then made fervent appeals to political leaders and the media.

NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule took up the issue after which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) intervened leading to an expedited US visa appointment interview slot for the family.

The driver of the car which hit Nilam has been arrested. The accused, Lawrence Gallow (58), was arrested five days on February 19.

/IANS