Quick-thinking commuters in Churchgate bound train treat elderly 71-year-old heart attack victim with Disprin as relentless fast train refuses to stop despite repeated emergency alarms
When Kamlesh Behal (71) suffered a heart attack, fellow passengers tried to stop the train by pulling the emergency chains but not a single one was working
Even if your heart stops in a local, the train may not stop. Yesterday, a 71-year-old woman suffered a heart attack and nearly died on a Churchgate bound train, all because the emergency chains that are meant to stop the train weren’t working. Thankfully, fellow commuters were brave enough to pull her out of the moving local and get her medical attention in time.
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Amrita Kadam
Kamlesh Behal (71) had been a heart patient for years, and had already suffered another heart attack before. When she went into cardiac arrest for the second time in the women’s first-class coach yesterday, there was every chance that she could have died if she hadn’t been rushed to the hospital immediately.
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The Churchgate local was approaching Mumbai Central when the other women onboard noticed Kamlesh’s condition and started pulling all the emergency chains in the coach to try and stop the train, only to get a nasty surprise. None of the chains were working. The train began to slow as it reached the station, but the women knew they would not have enough time to pull Kamlesh, who had begun to lose consciousness.
Heart-stopping tale
“The patient was heavy and it was not possible for us to pull her out on the platform in the time the train would halt at the station. So, we pulled all the chains in the coach to make it stop for more time. But none of the chains worked,” said Amrita Kadam, a 30-year-old PR consultant who was one of the first people to rush to the woman’s aid.
The quick-thinking Amrita first offered Kamlesh an aspirin tablet – this acted as first aid and prevented any clots from forming in the woman’s blood vessels. When the train stopped at Mumbai Central, Amrita and the other passengers began to pull Kamlesh out of the train. “Even before we could pull her out completely, we heard the horn blare, and train started to move and gather speed,” recalled Amrita.
Another passenger got down at the station and started shouting for help. “One of the women ran toward the guard and asked him to stop the train. The railway police were also there on the platform and there was total chaos. We started shouting for help, as Kamlesh was unconscious and teetering on the edge of the footboard. It was after he heard our yells that the guard signalled the driver to stop the train. Or else, Kamlesh would have fallen on the track or platform,” recalled Amrita.
Later, the railway cops took her to Jagjivan Ram Hospital, where she was admitted in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU). She has now been declared stable and is under observation.
What went wrong?
R Bhakar, chief PRO for Western Railway, said, “Normally, when the emergency chain is pulled, an indicator flashes in the cabin of the motorman and guard. Until the alarm chain is not set right, the train does not move ahead. The guard also informs the stationmaster at the next stop. I will have to check the specific details of this case.”
“Had the chains been functional, the guard would have noticed that we were taking the patient out of the train. But the train started running while we were pulling her out,” said Amrita.
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