“When They Spotted Us.”: Nurse Who Saved 20 Pregnant Women During 26/11
One of them is Mumbai's Cama Hospital nurse Anjali Kulthe, who was able to rescue 20 pregnant women who were admitted at Mumbai's Cama hospital and ensured safe delivery for one of them -- a high-risk patient of hypertension.
New Delhi:
Extradition of 26/11 plotter Tahawwur Rana has pulled off the band-aid from the wounds of many who survived the three-day mayhem in Mumbai 16 years ago. For some, it was the time to remember the enormous pressure they were put under to rescue the lives of others — while putting themselves in great danger.
One such hero is nurse Anjali Kulthe, who saved 20 pregnant women who were admitted at the Cama hospital in Mumbai and provided safe delivery to one of them — a patient having high blood pressure.
It was 9.30 pm on November 26, when they received news that terrorists who were firing at the CST station were heading towards the Cama hospital
A few minutes later, they heard shots from an alley at the rear of the hospital.
“Peeping through the window, we could see two terrorists running and the police shooting at them. Then the terrorists jumped over the low gate and came on to the hospital campus. I saw that they had shot the two security personnel, who were lying in a heap. When they saw us at the window, they fired at us and one of our employees got hurt. I rushed her to the casualty and told everyone that the terrorists had come into the hospital,” she added. When she came back, the nurse closed the main doors of the ward and led the 20 patients to a 10×10 pantry. Cellphones and light were turned off and they sat in darkness.
Later, the patient with hypertension began experiencing labour pain. The doctor would not come to the ward, by this time the gunfight was being conducted within the hospital.
Ms Kulthe explained that she walked the patient to the labour room through the staircase, one step at a time, hugging the wall. By the morning, she had delivered a baby girl, whom they named ‘Goli’ in remembrance of that night, Ms Kulthe said.
The hospital was attacked for five hours during the night. Apart from the two guards, one additional hospital employee lost his life.
Whether she had overcome the fear and trauma of that particular night, Ms Kulthe responded by saying, “not a single one of us who worked at the hospital – doctors, nurses or other staff — will ever forget that night”.
“The manner in which they hurled hand grenades, fired, killed individuals, none of us can ever forget. For the entire nation, it was a night of horror and sadness,” she further stated.
Extradited Tahawwur Rana is charged with being instrumental in the 2008 attacks that claimed 166 lives. Pakistani-American terrorist and principal accused in the case, David Coleman Headley, stated that Rana had provided logistical as well as financial assistance for conducting the terror attack. He has been indicted on criminal conspiracy, waging war against the Indian government, murder and forgery and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The three-day siege that ravaged India’s financial capital in 2008 had seen hotels, a train station, a Jewish centre, and other locations being attacked.
Of the 10 terrorists involved in the assault, just one, Ajmal Kasab, was arrested alive and was executed on November 21, 2012. India has attributed the attacks to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
