It was a lovely Monday morning in the ER of the hospital, we the doctors were having our clinical rounds and everything seemed to be progressing smoothly. Then suddenly the calm was pierced by shouts and the running of feet. Instinctively, we turned towards the direction of the pandemonium with our feet facing the opposite direction in case there was a need to run for cover.

The source of the disorder was crowed that rushed into the ER bearing the body of a badly bruised and battered child. Judging from the size, the child was not more than 10years old and I felt myself shiver all over such a cruel fate. One look at him and my consultant uttered the word “lifeless” and I felt myself grow weak.

Immediately the staff went into action, the child was taken from the crowd and the drill began. With the bloodied form of the boy placed on the ground his heartbeat and pulse were checked for but they were not present. CPR was begun on him meanwhile calls were made for suction machine and with it a large quantity of blood was suctioned from the lungs of the child. The oxygen cylinder was not functioning properly and the Bag Valve Mask Device could not do much.

While efforts were ongoing at resuscitation, the charge of the child was being questioned on the circumstances surrounding the accident. The effort was not entirely futile although the charge was quite incoherent, still badly shaken by the event. It was found out however that both charge and child had been walking along the road when a driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed into the child at top speed.

Whether out of a lack of knowledge of the basics of resuscitation of accident victims or out of a lack of well-equipped hospitals in the vicinity, the child was bundled into a vehicle by some on-lookers and the 30 minutes journey to the hospital began. I wonder how difficult it must have been for the driver to meander through the bad roads and heavy traffic. I wonder how long this child tried to hang on to life.

In all, it was evident the child had died on the way to the hospital. This conclusion was arrived at when after about 30mins of resuscitation neither heartbeat nor radial pulse was detected.  It was most probable that the cause of death was hypoxia due to the amount of blood that filled his lungs. In no time the word leaked out that the child was gone and a shrill cry emanated from the charge who crumpled in a heap of despair. The pain-racking sobs that shook her body also shook mine and I could not help my tears.

I went into to touch the now-cold, stiff and lifeless body of this dear child still looking sweet in death. I offered a silent prayer for the repose of his soul and for God to grant all who loved him the fortitude to bear the painful loss. The situation also sobered me up as I recalled all the careless things I did as a child, how I threw all cares to the wind as I jumped from the flight of stairs in the house or dashed across the road thinking myself invincible. Yet in all things God spared my life and is still sparing me. If only we could see the net minute…