IE: Bank employee spends days at JJ Hospital to help victims: December 05, 2008

For bank employee Bharat Jadhav, an average Mumbaikar caught in an unprecedented Terror attack, it was just another night at Nagar chowk where he was having a puff with friends. As events unfolded before him, he showed why Mumbai is famed for its never say die spirit.A resident of Fort in south Mumbai, Jadhav was chatting with friends near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus when Kasab and his accomplice Abu Dera Ismael Khan opened fire in the waiting area. Within minutes of the attack, he was at the nearby St George Hospital lending a helping hand to the victims.

“We were at the Nagar chowk when we heard some strange noises. At first, we thought that it was the sound of firecrackers. But as the sound grew louder we rushed towards the station to check what had happened,” Jadhav recalls. As soon as Jadhav and his friends reached the spot, they were faced with a mob trying to escape the station. Realising it could be dangerous to enter the station, they rushed to the nearby St George Hospital to help the victims. Being residents of the area, the staff and doctors at the hospital relied on Jadhav and his friends to chip in.

“We realized that something had gone wrong at the station and decided to rush to St George Hospital. When we entered the hospital, one victim had already reached. There was a young boy from Borivali and a girl who got stomach injuries. Since they were seriously injured, we took them directly to the operation theatres,” says Jadhav.

Among the first victims to be brought to the hospital was a girl named Anamika Gupta, who was with her friends at Café Leopold. As the steady stream of victims and injured poured in, the doctors realized they were running out of medicnes and were not well equipped to treat the patients.

“We were told that the doctors require more tetanus injections. I along with a friend went on a bike looking for medical shops as all the local shops were shut,” says Jadhav.

With police presence and roads blocked, Jadhav and his friend made their way to Metro theatre, where firing was on, to pick up the medicines. “Though the chemist had a lot of stock, we did not have enough money to pay him. But when he learnt about the situation, he gave us the medicines and asked us to pay for it later,” said Jadhav.

By the time they reached the hospital, they realized it was going to be a long night indeed. For the next two days, as more bodies and patients were shifted to JJ Hospital, Jadhav relentlessly helped strangers by contacting their families, assisting in medical aid and providing moral support.

URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Bank-employee-spends-days-at-JJ-Hospital-to-help-victims/394555

URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bank-employee-spends-days-at-jj-hospital-to-help-victims/394555/2