Woman ambulance driver in Kerala recounts tragedy while serving Wayanad victims

Wayanad: Deepa Joseph's ambulance was a regular sight on the roads following the devastating landslides that struck Kerala's Wayanad district, transporting the injured and the dead out of the disaster area.

Deepa, a courageous woman who rose to become Kerala's first female ambulance driver, broke down in tears as she described the horrible things she saw while transferring victim body parts and at the makeshift mortuary at Meppadi.

Deepa, who had taken a break from driving due to depression following the death of her daughter from blood cancer, had come to Wayanad from Kozhikode after learning about the demand for ambulances with freezer boxes.

The next five days after the landslides changed her completely, making her realise that what she had undergone could be managed much more easily. "For one or two days, we saw people who were not ready to believe that their beloved people were dead. But in the days that followed, the same people came to the morgue, praying that the bodies recovered should be those of their dear ones," Deepa told PTI.

The heartbreaking scenes unfolded in the following days, and as internal organs, severed limbs, and bodies were crushed beyond recognition, Deepa thought she could not bear it anymore.

"I have been working as an ambulance driver for over four-and-a-half years. I have taken bodies that are several days old and highly decomposed. But in Wayanad, the relatives had to identify the bodies just by looking at a severed finger or a severed limb. It was more than what it could take," Deepa said.

She says on many occasions, internal organs were brought to the morgue, and people could not understand whether those were from humans or animals.

"The whole morgue was filled with the stench of decayed bodies. The gases emanating from the bodies blurred our vision," Deepa, who thought of going back the next day while coming to Wayanad, not realising the magnitude of the disaster, recounted how she had to continue to lend her helping hand for the remaining days.

"I went back for a day and brought my son, who was alone at home, along. Now the ambulances from other districts have gone back, and I would also go back shortly," she said.

Deepa is now a well-known face among the volunteers in disaster-hit areas, and the local women, who lost everything in the landslides, share their horror stories with her. Even when struggling with their grief, they find time to console Deepa when she gets emotional thinking about her daughter.

Deepa wants to get back to driving ambulances, as she has a son who is now studying. "I am jobless now and want to get back to driving ambulances sooner," Deepa said.

With PTI inputs