Kochi: A young mother is thanking her lucky stars as she could save her three-year-old child in the nick of time from an open drain in the city.
Athira, a resident of Atlantis Junction, trembles as she recollects how she prevented her child from drowning in the drain on Thursday night. She managed to thrust the child's neck with her legs just enough to raise his head just above the flowing water. Soon, passers-by rushed to the scene and pulled the boy to safety though he gulped some filthy water by then.
What proved decisive was Athira's reflex action as soon as she saw the toddler fall.
“I’m still in shock. It was before my eyes that my little one had suddenly disappeared. For a second, I couldn’t figure out what had happened. I ran towards the drain and realised he was about to drown in the open drain. I screamed at the top of my voice while leaning and lowering my legs into the narrow opening. I just managed to tightly hold his neck with both my legs and keep his head above the flowing water. I felt like both my hands and legs would wither away. I continued to hold him with all my strength," Athira recounted.
“By then, passers-by rushed to the spot hearing my screaming, and pulled both of us out of the drain. It was a miraculous escape,” her voice trembling even after hours had passed since the incident.
What exactly happened
The incident occurred at Panampilly Nagar in the heart of Kochi city at 7.45 pm on Thursday. Athira and her son Gautam, along with a relative, had arrived at Kadavanthra from Aluva on a metro train and were walking to their house at Atlantis Junction at Perumanoor.
The boy who was a few steps ahead of Athira suddenly fell into the uncovered drain.
“I was holding my child in my arms and walking for much of the distance. Then he got down and started walking by my side. When we reached Grantapura library, he suddenly slipped and fell into the open drain. I rushed to the drain. I was having the shock of my life and suddenly thought of jumping into the drain. I wanted to save him at any cost,” Athira recalled.
The child and the mother are recuperating at a private hospital. The doctors have advised to keep the child under observation for another 24 hours to monitor his health as he has an infection due to the intake of filthy water from the drain.
Athira is a native of Muhamma in Alappuzha and an employee of the Cochin Shipyard. Her husband Harshakumar is a contractor at the Shipyard.
The family is now heaving a sigh of relief. Gautam, though exhausted with the intake of medicines and injections, still runs around the hospital room playfully, as usual.
