Kochi: Hassan Deli is the man of the hour in Kerala. The ambulance driver covered 400 km in a span of 330 minutes to bring a 15-day-old infant from Mangaluru to Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi for an emergency heart surgery. Following the endeavour, Hassan has won wide-spread appreciation for his big heart and unwavering confidence.
Hassan, 34, a native of Mookkunnoth in Uduma, regularly drives an ambulance with registration number KL-60- J 7739 belonging to the C H Memorial Centre, Uduma.
The trip with the 15-day-old baby was the second major long trip Hassan willingly took up. Earlier, in December 2017, he brought another patient from A J Hospital in Mangaluru to Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram in 8 hours and 45 minutes. The patient belonged to Thalangara in Kasaragod.
On Tuesday, the state of Kerala and its people stood together to make this endeavour a success. Though the initial plan to deliver the child to Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram, the timely intervention by the Health Minister K K Shailaja resulted in the transfer of the child to Amrita Institute, Kochi. The treatment will be provided free of cost under the government initiative, 'Hridayam'.
