Civil surgeon hailed a hero
Goes out of his way to help pregnant woman deliver
As Roksana Akter started having labour pains, she was immediately taken to a private hospital in Lakshmipur's Chandraganj area on Friday morning.
Her family was elated, eagerly waiting to welcome a new member.
But their joy and excitement faded upon reaching the hospital.
The hospital authorities, amid the ongoing countrywide shutdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, could not find a doctor to operate on the woman, who already had two previous caesarian sections.
Then the district's Civil Surgeon Abdul Gaffar came to the rescue.
Hearing about the whole incident on the district hotline, Gaffar donned his gloves after years and he, along with another colleague -- anaesthetist Iqbal Mahmud -- rushed there, around 15km away from district town, to conduct the operation.
The 25-year-old mother gave birth to a boy.
"The condition of the woman from an impoverished family was not good. They tried to manage doctors but could not…As I used to do gynecological operations, even though it is not my job now, I decided to help them out," Gaffar told The Daily Star yesterday.
"Moving her to district town was risky as there was serious risk to the mother and her unborn baby on the way," he said, adding that both mother and the boy are doing well.
The prompt act of the civil surgeon was hailed by the many in the district.