When Uber driver Shahnawaz Khan got a pick up at 8 p.m. from Deoli village at Sainik farms, he had no clue that this pick-and-drop was quite literally going to be the most memorable moment he had so far.
Khan happened to be cruising past Select City Walk mall, Saket in New Delhi when he got this pick-up request from somebody named Sanjay. He initially thought of declining, but, upon hearing that the client had to be dropped to a hospital, he decided to make the trip. When he reached the pick-up destination, he discovered that a heavily pregnant lady was waiting for him there.
“Some guy called Sanjay had made the call, but upon reaching there (at 9 pm), I found a lady – Babli, who was heavily pregnant – waiting for me,” he said in an interview with HuffPost India. “On asking her, she explained that the cab had been organised for her through her husband’s acquaintance (Sanjay) who also ran a small car service, but couldn’t spare any cars.”
Image via Huffpost
Babli’s husband Raj Kumar, a labourer, had recently met with an accident, so her aunt and a neighbour decided to accompany her to Safdarjung Hospital. When they left, however, Babli started showing signs of discomfort. “I called Sanjay, and told him he should have booked an ambulance, not a cab,” recalled Khan. “But he said that an ambulance would have never reached in time.” HuffPost India also reached out to Raj Kumar, who seconded Khan’s statement.
Their journey was stalled by a traffic jam, but with the help of her sister-in-law and a neighbour, Babli delivered a baby boy in the car’s backseat at around 8.45 p.m. Khan handed out towels and clothes stored in the car, while steering his Maruti Ertiga during the traffic. By the time they reached their destination Safdarjung Hospital, the baby had already arrived.
Image via Huffpost
After reaching the hospital, Khan helped the mother and child get on a stretcher and took her to the doctor. Two days later, both the mother and the baby are healthy and back home.
For 24-year-old Khan, this was the first experience of its kind. “I was very happy that everything went off well,” Khan says. “At the end, she held my hand and thanked me for saving her life.”
