Woman survives fall in Andheri station gap with fractured leg

MUMBAI: A 29-year-old woman fractured her thigh bone and narrowly escaped amputation as commuters managed to halt a train in time after she had slipped into the gap between the platform and the train. The incident took place at Andheri station on Sunday and the victim, Anjana Sonawane, is recuperating at a private hospital. While Anjana’s family thanked Mumbaikars for their timely help, she and her husband have no clue how they will foot the mounting hospital bills.
Anjana, a Goregaon resident, lives with her husband Rajesh and their one-year-old daughter. Anjana works with a retail store chain at Bandra while Rajesh is employed with an NGO. On Sunday, Anjana boarded a slow train from Goregaon to Andheri station. As she was getting late for work, she decided to change trains at Andheri and board a fast local. “Around 10.15am, while Anjana was trying to get into the ladies’ compartment of the Churchgate-bound fast local, she lost her grip and slipped into the gap at Andheri station. She screamed for help. The train began to move in a few seconds, dragging her along. Other commuters noticed her and one of them pulled the alarm chain, bringing the train to a halt,” Rajesh told TOI.
By then, Anjana was in severe pain. Commuters extricated her out of the gap and informed the GRP. “One of the commuters called me from Anjana’s phone and when I spoke to her, she was conscious but writhing in pain. The GRP took her to Cooper Hospital around 11am. The X-ray showed she had fractured her thigh bone. Doctors told us there was no anesthetist around and we would have to wait for a long time. We then decided to move her to Nanavati Hospital as it was closest,” said Rajesh.
On Tuesday, Anjana underwent a marathon surgery to fix the bone in her thigh. Her back had also been injured as she had been dragged along by the train.
“We have been told that the medical bills will go up to Rs 1.5 lakh. It will be difficult for us to arrange for the funds,” Rajesh added. A senior railway official said the family could approach the Railway Claims Tribunal as soon as possible. However, most claims are known to take a long time to be heard and decided.