Family carries injured man on cot for 14 km to reach hospital in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli

Gadchiroli, July 27

Family members carried an injured tribal man on a cot for about 14 kilometres, crossing a swollen stream by boat, to reach the nearest hospital in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, an official said on Saturday.

Mallu Majji (67) of Bhatpar village in Bhamragadh tehsil, about 1,000 km from Mumbai, suffered injuries while working on his farm on Thursday. His son, Pusu Majji, and a few others turned a cot into a makeshift stretcher and set out for the hospital, the health official said.

The rural hospital at Bhamragadh in the district, bordering Chhattisgarh, is about 14 km from the village. Residents of Bhatpar have to cross a stream, which doesn’t have a bridge, to access the medical facility, he said.

Mallu’s family members carried the ‘stretcher’ on their shoulders to one side of the stream, used a thin, long wooden boat to cross it and continued their journey on foot to the hospital, he said.

After initial treatment, the patient’s kin got him discharged “against medical advice” and carried him back on the cot to their village, he added.