Not All Heroes Wear Capes: Ambulance drivers of Meppadi Wayanad

MEPPADI: Along with rescue workers, hundreds of ambulance drivers in Wayanad also witnessed the nightmarish happenings at the disaster-stricken site. These drivers who steered the serpentine roads of Meppadi endured seven days of restlessness with busy work at night cutting short their sleep hours.

Siraj, an ambulance driver from Kuttiyadi volunteered for duty and drove to Mepapdi without waiting for anyone’s call. Most of the ambulance drivers adopted the same way and came by their will to this disaster land.

By the time the drivers reached the spot, the workers had started taking out dead bodies from the debris. When asked on Monday, most drivers have lost count of the trips to hospitals and mortuaries since their arrival. Babies were lying on the ground. There were adults. There were men and women. There was chaos all around.

“Despite knowing that it would end up in sad news, we used to drive fast towards the hospital with the rescued body in some hope that the doctors would do sufficient to resuscitate life back to them. We carried this hope within us to boost our spirits” said Siraj.

Some mutilated bodies were identified by the ring on the hand and henna on the finger. It was Siraj who took the unidentified dead bodies for mass burial. Siraj has decided to stay in the disaster area until the government calls off the mission.

On Monday, the authorities gave instructions and thanked the drivers from far away districts who volunteered to action. The officials also requested the drivers to return to their homes. Ambulances with more freezers have arrived under the leadership of the Ambulance Drivers and Owners Association of each district as per the instructions of the Collectors. Ten ambulances from each district arrived in this way.