Abdul Aahad Khan was uncertain if his wife would live that night. He was uncertain about the fate of his unborn child.
As Kashmir battled rain, avalanche and heavy snowfall in April, a couple was on its way from Bandipore to a hospital in Srinagar. But, at 1.30am, the ambulance they were travelling in broke down on the highway. Khan was a bundle of nerves as the vehicle had been stuck for nearly two hours. What’s worse, the stretch ahead was blocked due to a landslide.
But the driver of the ambulance showed presence of mind and decided to let the sirens blare. Soon, troops from a Rashtriya Rifles battalion nearby rushed to the spot and found the woman was in a critical state. They immediately slung their assault weapons behind their back and began pushing the ambulance to get it started.
Amid heavy snowfall, the soldiers pushed the vehicle for more than 500 metres and asked the driver to take an alternative route to Srinagar as the highway was blocked.
Some 12 hours later, Khan called up the company commander of SK Bala Army camp to inform him that his wife had been saved due to the timely help provided by the soldiers and delivered a healthy baby boy at Lal Ded hospital.
“Anything could have happened if the soldiers hadn’t come to our rescue. My wife and son are alive because of them. We will always pray for the well being of soldiers and their families,” Khan told from Bandipora.
