Kashmir doctor tending to clash victims all day finds teen son among those dead
Srinagar,
July
1:
Dr
Abdul
Gani
Khan
had
retired
to
his
residential
quarters
after
a
distressing
day
attending
to
people
injured
in
a
clash
with
security
forces
during
an
encounter
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir's
Pulwama
district.
No
sooner
had
he
reached
his
residence
that
Khan
received
a
call
to
urgently
return
to
the
district
hospital
in
Pulwama.
It
was
only
when
Khan
reached
the
hospital
did
he
realise
that
this
case
went
beyond
the
call
of
duty.
The
doctor
was
informed
that
his
16-year-old
son
had
died
in
the
clash
and
his
body
was
brought
to
the
hospital.
Faizan
Ahmad
Khan
was
among
the
people
injured
in
the
clash
between
stone-pelters
and
security
forces
during
the
encounter
with
terrorists
in
Thamuna
village
on
Friday.
He was rushed to a hospital in Rajpora in critical condition but doctors there feared he would not survive and referred him to the district hospital where his father works.
"Doctors at the Rajpora hospital informed us after they recognised Faizan. They also told us he might not make it (to the district hospital)," Dr Rashid Parra, medical superintendent of the district hospital, said.
"We tried our best to revive him when he was brought here but unfortunately, there were no signs of life in him," Parra said.
It was then that Parra and other hospital staffers decided to call Khan.
"Faizan was born at this hospital and spent his childhood in the hospital campus. We called Khan without telling him about his son and then kept him in a room as we wrapped Faizan's body in a shroud," Parra said.
Surrounded by his colleagues at the hospital, Khan was informed about his son's death. "He went to the casualty ward to see his son and broke down instantly. We all were in tears...," the medical superintendent said. "Fate had brought Faizan to the same hospital to be declared dead where he was born," he added.
Faizan's body was later taken to his ancestral home in Ladoo village of the district for last rites.
A Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist was killed during the encounter in Thamuna village on Friday. Police said initial reports had suggested three terrorists were killed but two of them apparently escaped during the security operation.