Nurses worked tirelessly, unimaginable loss: Hospital
MUMBAI: The three staff nurses of Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) Hospital, who were killed in the pedestrian bridge collapse near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on Thursday, were recently appreciated by the hospital administration for their contributions and are remembered by colleagues as happy, jolly women, who worked tirelessly for their patients.
The staff members and doctors of the hospital, on Friday, organised a prayer meet to pay their tributes to the three victims — Ranjana Tambe, 40, Apurva Prabhu, 35, and Bhakti Shinde, 40 — who have been with the hospital for over a decade.
While Prabhu and Shinde worked in the operation theatre, Tambe worked in the orthopaedic ward. The three nurses were residents of Dombivli, who travelled together. They were heading to work at the time of the accident. While Shinde was brought to St George Hospital, Tambe and Prabhu were rushed to GT Hospital. All of them succumbed to severe injuries to the head and abdomen region and excessive blood loss.
“It’s a huge loss for the hospital. Nurses such as these are irreplaceable assets for us as it’s difficult to find such dedicated medical aids who gain as much experience as doctors over the years,” said Dr Mukund Tayade, medical superintendent of GT Hospital. One of their colleagues said the staff members are still in shock. “They were always happy, took part in all the cultural programs at the hospital and worked tirelessly for the patients.”
Prabhu is survived by her husband, Abhay Prabhu, a software engineer in Andheri, and two children. Abhay’s brother-inlaw, Prasad Koyande, informed him about the incident after watching it on the news.
“Abhay was in south Mumbai when I called him, and he immediately rushed to the hospital,” said Koyande, a civic employee. Earlier this year, for a monthand-a-half, Prabhu had nursed her mother, who was being treated for colon cancer at the hospital.
Another nurse said Shinde’s familywaseconomicallydependent on her. “After the death of her two brothers, she was taking care of their children along with her own,” she said.