Pregnant woman travels 16 km suspended in bamboo stick in Odisha

In Odisha, relatives of a pregnant woman carried her in a bamboo stick to reach hospital.

Bhubaneshwar, July 24: Almost on a regular basis we come across stories, mostly from rural areas of the country, which lay bare the defeats of our healthcare system.

Reports after reports suggest lack of availability of ambulances to ferry sick or deceased from hospitals to homes and vice versa.

One more such horrible story has come to light from Lanjigarh, Odisha. The report of a pregnant woman being ferried in a piece of cloth tied between two corners of a bamboo stick by her relatives to help her reach the nearest hospital is a shocking tell of utmost negligence on part of the authorities to help people avail medical benefits.

The relatives of the pregnant woman were forced to carry her in a bamboo stick as the road connecting to the hospital with the village was blocked.

So, the expecting mother travelled 16 km suspended in a bamboo stick before she could manage to avail an ambulance.

Thankfully, in spite of such an arduous journey, the woman delivered a healthy baby at the hospital.

"An uprooted tree blocked the road. Thus ambulance failed to fetch the pregnant woman from her home. Her relatives carried her in a bamboo stick for 16 km before she could board an ambulance. The ambulance was waiting for her in the middle of the road," said a health official.

"She was given proper treatment at the hospital. The patient delivered a healthy baby," the official added.

Last year, a man from Odisha carried the body of his dead wife on his shoulders as a hospital refused to give him an ambulance. Since then, such stories are being regularly reported by the media from across the country.

In spite of large-scale condemnation from the public against the government for neglecting the poor and needy, authorities seem not to care at all.

OneIndia News