Man wrote ‘farewell’ note while stuck for 42 hours in lift: ‘My hands and legs are losing mobility’

Thiruvananthapuram, July 16

The 59-year-old man who was stuck for 42 hours in the lift of a major government hospital here over the weekend said that while being trapped there he had written a note akin to a farewell message to his family, and kept it in his bag.

Ravindran Nair, who was headed for the outpatient department of the hospital when the lift stopped working midway on Saturday, said his arms and legs began losing mobility after he was in the confined space without water for long.

“I made every effort to escape from the lift,” he said.

“I tried to open its doors. When I opened it, I could see only walls. I hit the wall of the lift in frustration,” Nair told a news channel.

The victim said that he used his mobile phone’s torch to write the note saying, “I was unable to move; my hands and legs were losing mobility, and I had no idea what time it was.”

He told news channels: “I was worried that if something happened to me, my children’s education would be affected.

“I had no water to drink, but I had some poems I had written (which kept his mind distracted from his predicament presumably), which were with me in my bag.”

Nair told the media that when the lift operator resumed duty on Monday and opened the elevator doors, he saw the hospital employee as a messenger of god.

News of Nair’s ordeal sparked widespread public outcry, following which the Kerala State Human Rights Commission on Tuesday sought a report from the Superintendent of the Government Medical College Hospital on how a patient could be trapped in the hospital lift for 42 hours without anyone noticing it.

Nair had been stuck inside the lift of the OP Block of the hospital since Saturday and was rescued on Monday morning when the lift operator returned to duty after the weekend.

KSHRC Acting Chairperson and Judicial Member K Byjunath directed the superintendent to submit a detailed investigation report within 15 days and explain whose negligence had led to the incident, an official release said.

The Human Rights Commission’s intervention came hours after Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Tuesday visited the victim at the hospital where he is undergoing treatment. The minister assured him and his family that strict action would be taken against those responsible for the negligence.

In a statement, the minister’s office said she had enquired about Nair’s condition, and the doctors had reported that it was satisfactory.

Nair expressed gratitude for the minister’s visit, saying it had been a great comfort to him.

George had ordered an emergency investigation into the incident as soon as it came to light. Based on a preliminary investigation led by the Director of Medical Education, three staff members were suspended.

The minister said a detailed investigation would be conducted and further action taken.