Villagers carry sick woman on makeshift stretcher for 5 km through thick forest

BELAGAVI: Residents of a hamlet inside the forest in Khanapur taluk carried a woman, who had fallen very sick, on a makeshift stretcher for 5 km in pouring rain and managed to shift her to the district hospital in Belagavi where she is now recovering.

The villagers carried the woman for 5 km through the forest up to a forest checkpost.

Harshada Harischandra Phadi (36), a resident of Angaon, had developed fever and had fallen unconscious and needed immediate medical attention. Determined to save her life, the villagers fashioned a stretcher from wood, fixed a plastic chair on it and secured Harshada after getting her to wear a raincoat, and trudged 5 km through the thick forest carrying the stretcher up to a forest checkpost.

From the forest checkpost, the woman was taken to a hospital in Belagavi.

With no mobile network available even near the forest checkpost, the villagers went up 1 km ahead, and called for the 108 ambulance service. An ambulance from Jamboti was immediately rushed to the forest checkpost and the staff gave initial treatment to the unconscious Harshada. The woman was then taken to the district hospital in Belagavi where she is undergoing treatment.

The stretcher the villagers had fashioned to carry the sick woman.

The condition of villagers living on the edges of the forests in Khanapur taluk is similar, with no access to medical help or mobile phones. Those mostly affected are children, pregnant women and the elderly.