Girl with broken ribs rescued orphaned kids

Death unnerves most. But the bravest among us show unbelievable grit and determination when death stares them in the eye. Anuradha Mathur is one such person.

When the accident occurred, this 20-year-old girl broke her ribs. Yet, ignoring the pain and agony, she saved two young children whose mother died soon after the collision.“I had boarded the train at Mathura at 4:40 am, like I do everyday to reach Delhi for my computer classes. Within 15 minutes I was thrown off my seat, I didn’t realise it was an accident. The woman sitting with her two kids in front of me was hit by a broken berth and died on the spot,” said Anuradha, a first-year software engineering student.

In the accident, Anuradha fractured her ribs but the two children, aged 3 and 5, escaped without injuries. “We were crushed under the broken berths and the bodies of people. I was hardly able to lift myself. I saw these two kids trapped beneath the luggage. I somehow managed to gather strength and pulled them towards me. We were sitting inside, crying for help for more than an hour before the rescue teams arrived. The medical staff managed to get us out at 6am and take us to hospital,” said Anuradha.

“I had just spoken with the children’s mother and never imagined that she would die right in front of me,” she lamented.

Anuradha said the railway staff informed her parents who arrived at a hospital soon after.  “I travel to Delhi every day so I know all the guards. They informed my parents. My only loss was the laptop that my father gifted me this Diwali,” she said.