Indian Air Force saves 7-year-old boy from snowbound Gurez Valley

Gurez, a picturesquevalley just a few kilometres away from the Line of Control (LoC) in the border district of district Bandipora, remain cut off from rest ofKashmir forthe past four months because of heavy snowfall. The people of the area live in miserable conditions during this four months and suffer mostbecause of ill health care.

On 31st ofJanuary, a seven-year-old boy from the area complained of acute pain in the abdomen. Seeing his unbearable pain, parents admitted him to a hospital inGurez. Though the hospital was well-equipped, nobody was thereto operate the facilitiesavailable. A juniordoctor present diagnosed that the child was suffering from appendicitis and needed to be operated upon immediatelywhich was not possible at the hospital. The doctorsuggested the parents of the seven-year-old boy to shifthim to Srinagar. However, even that was not possible as the road was closed due to bad weather. The chopper service was also not operational for the last three days due to thecontinuoussnowfall and cloudy weather.

At this difficulttime when helpless parents were seeing theirkid in unbearablepain and not been able todo anything, Indianarmy came forward to help. A local army unit located in Gurez signalled the IAF base in Srinagarand requested for the helicopterto airlift the child to Srinagar.

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Srinagar-based defencespokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said that the seven-year-oldTaufiksuffered acute pain as a result of appendicitis on January 31 night and needed immediate medical care. Due to non-availability of adequate medicare in the area, he had to be shifted to Srinagar for treatment. The message for shiftingwas received at the Air Force Station, Srinagar, at night. The crew along with a helicopter was put on standby. However, bad weather at Gurez prevented the helicopter from getting airborne the next morning,” the defence spokesman said.

He said the helicopter was then assigned toanother assignment.

“On its way back from the assignment, the helicopter crew received a message that the weather at Gurez had improved to marginal. The helicopter was diverted to the landing site. After the successful landing, Taufik and his father were picked up despite continuous snowfall and low clouds and moved to Srinagar,” the spokesman said.

And boy's life was saved with the help of Indian Air Force and he was taken to Srinagar for treatment on February 1 where hiscondition is stable.

Local residents of Gurez and family members of Tawfiq thanked the air forces. Taufiq's fatherGhulam Rasool Lone thanked the Army especially the rescue teamof the Air Force, who undertook a 'risky landing' to save the child's life in that bad weather condition. ''If Air Force personnel did not come forward tohelp, mychild would have died. Due to their swift actionmy child survived,'' he said.

Cursing the local administrationhe said "Pawan Hans Chopper Service, started by the administration is a failurewhen the army helicopter landed, why can't they? According to the Lone, people there have to face such situation in every winter.

Another resident Mohammad Snaullah Lone, a teacher by profession said "We have a nice hospital which is well equippedbut there is no one to handle theequipment. There are no expert techniciansand doctors.'' He further complained that afew weeks back doctorswere transferredto that place but no one joined as they are having politicalconnections and don't want to cometosuch a remotearea".