This doctor answered the call of duty

The doctor who answered the call of duty (Source : rediff.com)

When he was told to attend a shoot-out call at the Taj Heritage hotel, little did Dr Shaikh realise what was to follow. Despite watching terrorists going on a killing spree and grenades going off a few metres away from him, he called upon all his inner strength and courage, and stayed back to help the injured. He does not know how many lives he managed to save, but one thing is sure -- he tried his best to save as many as possible.
Dr Shaikh narrates his experience to rediff.com:
'I work with Dr Kriplani, who is attached with Taj hotel. I got a call from him around 10.15 PM on Wednesday that there is an emergency and that somebody has been hit by a bullet. It felt very strange when I reached the Taj because usually there are a lot of people outside the hotel. But nobody was there and all the people I could see were far away from the Taj. I thought within that something was wrong, but I said to myself 'let's go inside and check'.
'The moment I entered the hotel, I saw a lot of people lying on the ground (in the lobby) out of which some were crying, while others were not breathing and maybe dead already. So immediately, I realised that this was not a normal fight or something, but maybe a terrorist attack and I rushed out immediately. But when I tried to step out, a security from the hotel told me not to run but stand aside because bullets were being shot outside. I stood at one side and wondered whether I should stay back or leave.
'Then, a few minutes later a lot of security and policemen arrived. I went in with them again and I saw around 7-8 people on the floor at the gate of the lobby itself. Then I along with the police tried to get them to the hospital. In fact, I was the first person to call the ambulance from a hospital located close to the Taj. The ambulance arrived within five minutes and immediately we started shifting the injured. I was instructing them which patient was salvageable and instructed the guys to take them to Bombay Hospital, GT Hospital or St George's Hospital. Unfortunately, nothing much could be about done about the people who were already dead and which is why priority was given to people who were injured.
'Firing was still on but not near the gate or the lobby. We then shifted to the Heritage part of the building where I started attending to patients because Dr Kriplani told me it was not safe to be in the lobby of the new building. Almost immediately, I heard a grenade blast at the spot where I was standing previously. That scared us a lot and we thought the whole building might collapse. But gradually it started happening everywhere on the road and on the side of the building. For two hours, we were busy helping people and around midnight, we heard another big blast inside the hotel. We got scared again and ran out of the Taj from the front gate towards the Gateway of India. We were waiting outside the hotel till 6 AM in the morning waiting to help people.
'We also went to inform the fire brigade, who were standing at the corner near Colaba since there was a huge fire on the top of the Taj on the front side. As we were walking to inform them, we passed through one of the most dangerous places where bombs were constantly going off. That was a very scary situation and one of the persons walking behind us was hit by a bullet on his back.
'In between, several times, we thought of leaving the place but being doctors we stayed back and decided to help the victims. We had also got the message that there were incidents of firing on a few places. So we thought it was not be safe to even get on the road.
'As I entered the Taj Hotel lobby, I actually saw one terrorist firing and running towards the other corner in the Taj Heritage wing. People were lying on the floor of the corridor; they were either injured or dead, and I saw this guy running and climbing up the stairs in the old building towards the upper floors.
'I got some courage watching a few people around me working in the lobby. I think doctors were the most needed people there than others and I was glad to help them. We were only deciding on which patient was to be taken to the hospital out of the bodies fallen all around the lobby. One patient, a foreigner, was shot on the chest but was still breathing and I told the helpers to shift him to the hospital urgently since there was a chance of saving his life.
'The terrorists used modern guns and I think that is why the injuries were more deep and fatal unlike the old guns. The maximum number of injuries that happened in the lobby was mainly because of bullets and not grenades. This was one of the worst days of my life. I saw so many people being shot at and blasts were happening right in front of us. We even saw terrorists burning curtains on fifth and sixth floor after which there was a huge fire. Before this, I had never seen such a huge amount of destruction and so many people dead and injured. It will stay with me forever.'