In two incidents in a span of less then 10 days, a 22-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy had a brush with death at Thane and Dadar stations respectively
A 22-year-old woman’s decision to get off a slowing train in Thane on March 22 and a shorter stop than usual for a fast train in Dadar yesterday led to her and a 10-year-old boy having a close brush with death in a span of less than 10 days.
CCTV grabs show 22-year-old Poonam Shewale slipping and falling into the gap at Thane station and (below) being carried out on a stretcher
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While Poonam Shewale (22) from Vikhroli suffered a head injury and jaw as well as hand fractures, the 10-year-old boy from Rajkot escaped with minor scratches after being pulled back into the train by quick-thinking fellow passengers.
Ill-considered move
Shewale, a TYBA student of Vikas Night College in Vikhroli East, was on her way home from Pune on March 22, when the incident took place. She had gone to Pune for an interview for the post of a clerk, which she had cleared and was supposed to join the organisation in two months.
Shewale was returning on the Hyderabad Express, which slowed down at Thane station due to a signal around 12.50 pm, and passengers began alighting even though the train wasn’t supposed to stop at the station.
Since it would have been easier for Shewale to get home from Thane, she also tried to get off the running train, but fell into the gap between the platform and the train. She didn’t fall all the way to the tracks and remained stuck in the gap even as a few coaches passed by before the train came to a halt.
Shankar Mujgaud, a GRP constable at Thane station, who helped save Shewale, said that she had a lucky escape. “I was taking a round of the station when I noticed a commotion at platform 6, towards the CST end.
By the time I reached, I saw that the train had come to a halt and Shewale was stuck between the platform and the train. I pulled her up and called a licensed porter and others to help take her to an ambulance. I checked the last dialled number on her phone and informed them about the incident.
She was immediately moved to Thane Civil Hospital,” said Mujgaud. The last dialled number was of Shewale’s cousin in Pune, who then informed her family in Mumbai. “We were waiting for her to come home. When we received the call from our Pune relatives, we rushed to JJ Hospital, since she had been moved there by 3.20 pm.
She was operated upon the same night and doctors informed us that her condition was critical due to heavy blood loss. We are thankful that we got her back from the jaws of death,” said Laxmi, her mother. Shewale underwent an operation yesterday, for her fractured right hand.
“Her condition was critical when she was brought in and we had to transfuse six bags of blood because of the heavy blood loss. She has been kept under observation after her surgery today (Monday). Thankfully, she had not suffered any brain injuries,” said a doctor at JJ Hospital.
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