Jhansi Hospital Fire: Nurse Megha James' Heroic Efforts Save 15 Babies Despite Suffering Burns

“My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working,” she told PTI Videos.

Jhansi: Charred ward of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after a fire at the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, in Jhansi district | PTI

Jhansi: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero’s role by saving several babies.

Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others’ help.

Nurse Megha James On The Fire

“I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread,” James said.

Faced with an enormous blaze, James’s mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.

“My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working,” she told PTI Videos.

James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.

“There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies,” she said.

Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. “It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it.” Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James’s valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.

“The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha’s salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside,” she said.

Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.

“The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward. When I recall the scene, I feel like crying,” she said.

Source: https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/jhansi-hospital-fire-nurse-megha-james-heroic-efforts-save-15-babies-despite-suffering-burns