Khilkhilat Van Driver Rows Mother And Child Across River To Deliver Them Home Safely

A Khilkhilat driver went above and beyond the call of duty and turned into a boatman to ferry a mother and infant to their home across a river. The van driver pilots an ambulance specially designed to drop off a mother and newborn child at their home free of cost.

In Kadana Taluka, Mahisagar district of Gujarat the Khilkhilat driver did not let a river stop him from dropping off a mother and her newborn child to safety. The driver Balvant Vagadiya received a call that he had to drop off a mother who had just given birth to a newborn at Santrampur state hospital. He was informed by the patient that her house was located on the Rathda bet, a remote island with nearly 300 households.

Khilkhilat Driver Rows Mother And Child Across River

The Khilkhilat service aims to provide mothers and infants with a safe homecoming for free. The initiative was started in September 2012 in Gujarat and inspired the launch of Vatsalaya, a similar project based in Maharasthra.

The Khilkhilat ambulances consist of a nutrition kit for the newly born child, a list of vaccines to be given at specific times, and information about the nearby government hospitals.

The Khilkhilat driver Balvant Vagadiya reached the bank of the Kadana river with the mother and her child and called her relatives. The woman’s relative asked him to drop the two off at the riverbank. Vagadiya said, “Her relatives told me that they would reach there in an hour to collect the mother and the newborn waiting on this side of the river.”

Concerned about leaving the mother and child alone on the riverbank, Vagadiya contacted his supervisor and informed him of the situation. Vagadiya’s supervisor asked if he knew how to row a boat, and since he had experience with rowing he volunteered to drop them off at the island. He added that he learnt boating while he travelled to and from his job.

Vagadiya covered a distance of around one kilometre in the boat to reach the Rathda bet and delivered the mother and her newborn safely to their home.

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