Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 14, 2006
A part from triggering a flush of gore and
death, Tuesday's serial blasts left behind a vacuum that was almost immediately
filled up by the common man's ability to take on several roles. Not only were
people living near the railway station the first to rush to the disaster scene,
but they also donned the role of a nurse, volunteer, blood donor and relative
so that the blast victims could cling to hope till their relatives arrive.
Andheri resident Abdul Ghani Shaikh was among
those who volunteered to tend to the injured admitted at city hospitals on
Tuesday. Garment businessman, Shaikh and his peers worked non-stop for five
hours, wheeling in victims with severed arms and legs to Cooper Hospital,
helping them change their blood-soaked clothes and rushing them medicines,
prescribed by doctors.
"I must have changed my gloves more than
30 times," Shaikh told TOI on Wednesday. "We lost count of the number
of victims we tended to. My boys even donated blood to the blast victims who
matched their blood-type and were in need of blood."
Shaikh, who runs a local NGO Yuva Samaj, said
he learnt of the blast around 6.30 pm from his brother who works at Jogeshwari.
"My brother was among the volunteers who brought the victims to Cooper.
But once there, someone needed to carry them in and look after them till their
families arrived," said Shaikh who along with his friends reached the
hospital in 20 minutes flat despite traffic snarls at almost every junction.
On reaching there, the volunteers took charge
of the situation, readying stretchers. Victims were carried inside or wheeled
in, depending on the type of injury Several families came looking for their
missing sons and husbands and the volunteers helped them look up the list
of names and search through wards. Senior citizens were served with tea and
biscuits.
"Some patients were so badly hurt that
they could barely get up. We helped them change. The nurses were so overworked
that we had to keep a tab on the patient's IV-drip and reminded the nurse
to refill it each time it got over," said Shravan Jadhav, Shaikh's co-worker.
The team of volunteers hung around at the hospital till 2 am. Ask them how
they feel and Shaikh says they are satisfied to have made a difference.
