Doctors at Ujala Cygnus show up on their day off, refuse to leave injured alone

Srinagar, Nov 16: The entry to the wards of the hospital where the survivors of the November 14 Nowgam blast are admitted is guarded by the Police, alert and purposeful as ever.

Inside the wards, it’s just solemn silence, blank stares by the survivors, and a team of medics and paramedics is on the job, not just to heal their bodies but their minds too – a far tougher task.

Doctors look forward to Sundays as a much-needed break from their hectic schedules and stressful jobs.

Nearly 36 hours after the blast, despite it being a Sunday, numerous staff members voluntarily reported to work at Ujala Cygnus to ensure all is well with the “extraordinary patients who have survived the extraordinary.”

A doctor put it simplistically, “Familiar faces help alleviate the victims’ distress. They need a lot of support, and we are here to provide it.”

He struck a conversation with the patients in the ward, one at a time.

He sat beside the bed of each one of them, calm and composed throughout.

After the round, which was more than a professional medical round, he spoke outside: “Their injuries are better, but it will take time for their minds to heal.”

He said some other doctors also visited the hospital on their off days in the morning, “just to have a look” at the patients.

“Thankfully, we have a team of doctors here to take care of emergencies round-the-clock. Apart from that, many others also came to ensure the patients are doing well,” he said.

The survivors have been kept in two wards and the ICU.

The area is guarded by Police standing watch in quiet vigilance.

Inside the wards, the survivors, mostly policemen of various ranks, are recovering from the night of horror.

Many look upbeat, but most stare blankly, their entire demeanour reflecting the impact of the accident, physical and mental – echoes of a night they won’t forget.

“I was sleeping and then when I opened my eyes, it was just darkness and devastation, followed by fire,” recalled a policeman injured at the site.

Another one had severe injuries to his feet and legs.

He was pulled out of the rubble by unknown men.

“I have faint memories of what happened, but I remember the fire. There was a lot of fire,” he says, shuddering and narrating to his extended family that had come to see him Sunday afternoon.

A couple of nurses in the ward gently tapped the shoulders of the attendants of the patients.

“We cannot have too many people here. Please come one by one,” their tone empathetic, their gaze full of kindness that softened the tense air.

On Sunday, the hospital received 18 injured persons from the site of the blast in Nowgam.

Three of them were in the ICU, but their condition is stated to be stable.

For the survivors, the doctors at Ujala Cygnus stood between trauma and hope.

The empathetic faces became medicine.

In the wards of pain, they brought calm and a quiet promise of recovery.

It was healing beyond wounds.