After having lost his mother due to lack of medical facility in his village, this man started an ambulance service on his loaned bike to help the poor villagers. Now this common man brings hope for the poor and downtrodden village folks by providing a chance of survival.
The ambulance man of India, Karimul Haque, is a poor tea gardener. This common man is not ordinary anymore, all credit goes to his much acclaimed efforts to rescue sick and dying people on his “bike ambulance.”
His selfless mission is to provide patients with first-aid and reach them to the hospital in time, for emergency treatment, at his own expense.
On January 26, 2017, Karimul was honored for his humanitarian service by the President of India. He was awarded with the “Padma Shri” award — the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India.
Karimul is 50-year-old and works for tea plantation company, in Jalpaiguri, India and earns about USD $75 per month. When he is at work, and gets an emergency call, his manager is kind enough to sanction permission to attend to the patient.
From than 14 years he has been on roads to fulfill his mission to saves the precious lives of poverty stricken people.
It all started when his mother was very sick, and he could not take her to the hospital on time to save her life.
“I lost my mother because I couldn’t get her to the hospital on time. I don’t want anybody else to face the same. That’s when the idea of running a free ambulance came in,” he told the Deccan Chronicle.
“There is only one government hospital in my town, which offers first aid and medicines for small ailments. So we often end up travelling 45 km to reach the city,” he said.
He purchased his bike on a loan and was struggling to pay it off, and also meet the financial demands to keep working on his mission. Recently, when some kind-hearted people heard about his selfless efforts to help other, they came forward to support him by paying off his loan by donating money.
With his limited income Karimul manages his fuel expenses, the purchase of first-aid, and also look after his family.
“I get donations from school teachers, cops and sometimes students too. That helps fund the treatment for the needy,” he said.
Each month he attends to about 100 patients and takes them to hospital on his motorbike, and for some patients he takes them in the trolley attached to the motorbike to the hospital.
A small good deed toward humanity, no matter how ordinary it might be, can indeed become the stepping stone to bring change in someone’s life. Let’s keep helping!
This story was originally published on the Deccan Chronicle.
