I wanted to run away, says doctor from post-mortem ward of a hsp in Wayanad

Wayanad (Kerala): As the toll from the devastating landslides in Wayanad district continues to rise, a government doctor has shared a heart-wrenching account of the tragedy. Posted at a local hospital to perform post-mortem examinations, she is witnessing sights that will haunt her forever.

“I’m accustomed to performing post-mortems, but nothing could have prepared me for this,” she said, her voice laced with emotions.

The doctor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has years of experience in her field, but the sheer scale of destruction caused by the landslide has left her shaken.

“I’ve seen many bodies in my career, but this was different. The impact was so severe, it was as if the person had been pulverised,” she said.

“I told myself that I could not handle this, when I saw the first body. It was so crushed, and the second one was that of a one-year-old child. Seeing it, I was sure that I could not continue doing it (post-mortem) and wanted to run away to a hospital where we could give care to survivors. But on that day, I had no option, and we performed 18 post-mortems,” she said.

When she and her team of doctors were overwhelmed by the number of bodies on day one, several forensic surgeons from different parts of the state began arriving to help speed up the post-mortem process.

“There were eight tables for conducting post-mortems, and by evening, we had so many forensic surgeons that each table had one forensic surgeon at it. By 7.30 pm, we were able to complete as many as 53 post-mortems,” the doctor added.