Physically challenged man plays midwife on train

Physically challenged man plays midwife on train

Arvind.Chauhan@timesgroup.com

Lucknow:18.01.2021

It was a real-life redux of Amir ‘Rancho’ Khan’s midwifery feat in the climax of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, only that it happened on board a running train and the protagonist was a physically challenged lab technician working in Delhi.

On Saturday night, Sunil Prajapati helped a 30-year-old woman deliver a baby on Jabalpur-bound Madhya Pradesh Sampark Kranti Covid special express, using a thread string taken from a shawl, a blade from a shaving kit pouch and taking instructions over a video call with an eye surgeon.

It all happened in the B3 coach of the train while it was passing through UP’s Mathura district. The 33-year-old “super hero” told TOI, “The train had just crossed Faridabad when I heard a woman in the next coupe crying. She was travelling with her brother and a minor daughter to Damoh to her in-law’s place. The woman, identified herself as Kiran said she was due for delivery on January 20.”

I just helped her and a healthy infant was in my arms: Sunil

I offered to help her and asked if she needs medical assistant at any station, but she wasn’t sure if she was undergoing labour pain or abdomen twinge caused by jerks while travelling in bus to reach Hazrat Nizamuddin station. Since there was no woman passenger in the coach, I preferred not to take chance and informed my superior Dr Suparna Sen, who alerted Agra and Gwalior stations to put medical staff on standby. About half an hour later, Kiran again screamed in pain and this time her blanket was wet with her blood indicating that she was about to deliver. I immediately asked the TTE for a first-aid kit and took Dr Sen on video call. I followed her instructions. Fortunately, I managed to arrange fresh unused blade from a passenger, with which I cut the umbilical cord,” Sunil said.

After the delivery, RPF personnel took the woman and her newborn to Mathura district hospital. Sunil, who was hailed for his heroic act, is posted in the pathology department of the Northern Railway Delhi division hospital, Chandni Chowk. He was going home in Sagar, MP.

“I just helped a woman deliver and a healthy infant was in my arms. It was a mixed feeling of fear and excitement,” he said. “The railway staff went out of their way to help me,” Kiran told TOI.

Full report on www.toi.in