Mumbai: Rajesh Doshi was resting on Tuesday when his apartment came crashing down around him. Luckily, his wife Raksha and son Darshan were out at the time. It would be 14 hours before the 57-year-old would be one of the lucky few to be pulled out alive from the debris of Sai Darshan Society by rescue workers.
“I am a diabetic and have been bedridden for almost a month. I was in bed when suddenly, the building collapsed within seconds. It was completely dark, but two pillars held the weight of the debris and prevented it from falling on me. There was around two feet of space above me,” Mr. Doshi, who is currently being treated at Shantiniketan Hospital nearby, told The Hindu.
The first glimmer of hope came at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, a good six hours of dark and terror after the building collapsed, in the form of cellphone network coverage when a large part of the rubble above him was removed. The first call he made was to Darshan to let him know he was safe.
“I could hear sounds of drilling sounds and people talking continuously. I kept praying the whole time. It was only around 10 p.m. that enough debris was cleared for some light to filter into the space where I was trapped,” he said, after being rescued around 12.50 a.m. on Wednesday.
His family’s joy at getting him back alive was without bounds. Dr. Praful Lokhande at Shantiniketan hospital, where Mr. Doshi was brought around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, said, “He was breathless and under deep psychological trauma when he was rescued by the firemen and the NDRF. He had also vomited some blood, but suffered only mild fractures.”