Dr A Thanammai
Chief Medical Officer
Government Hospital
Colachel, Tamil Nadu

It had begun like any other morning. Dr Thanammai reported for duty at the hospital, checking on her patients as usual. Then the victims started coming in. She along with the staff managed to revive 26 youth and sent them to the Asaripalayam Government Medical College for further treatment.

As it was a Sunday, many other doctors were on leave. They rushed back to the hospital on hearing the news.

"We started by trying to pump out the water from their bodies. It helped. After a while only dead bodies started coming in. There was no place to walk, so I vacated the main ward and started putting the bodies there," she says.

On the first day, they had to move the bodies themselves. When the volunteers came in the following day, they took over. Many tsunami victims came with injuries and were given anti-tetanus shots. "Then the volunteers also wanted injections as they were working with dead bodies. We obliged. Then the villagers all wanted anti-tetanus injections."

For the first four days, the only sleep Dr Thanammai got was from from 1 am to 4 am. On the fifth day, the pressure eased after hundred doctors came from the Medical college in Tirunelveli and surrounding districts.

"In the first four days we handled over 600 dead bodies and gave 5,000 anti-tetanus injections. The Indian Medical Association was a great help. They gave us masks, gloves, syringes and medicines."

"I am glad we rose to the occasion even though we were not prepared for anything like this."

Text and photograph: A Ganesh Nadar