Nurse Who Saved Baby in Pakistan Hospital Fire Wishes She Could Have Saved the Rest
(MedPage Today) -- Razia Noreen and her colleagues had just checked on the 15 newborns in their care at the hospital nursery in Islamabad and were preparing injections for some of them in an adjacent room when she noticed something unusual: flames...
Razia Noreen, a nurse at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, witnessed a devastating hospital fire on August 26, 2021. While attending to 15 newborns in the nursery, Noreen noticed flames and immediately rushed into the room, shielding one baby from the thick smoke. On CCTV footage, she is seen running into the nursery for just eight seconds before emerging with the newborn in her arms, handing it to a doctor nearby. Tragically, the remaining 14 newborns perished in the blaze.
Noreen, a Christian minority in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, described her actions as the instinctive response of a nurse and a mother, not heroic. She expressed deep regret for not saving the other children, emphasizing that it was her duty to protect the babies. The fire resulted from a blast involving a nebulizer, and Noreen's actions have earned her Pakistan's prestigious Sitara-i-Khidmat award.
Despite receiving accolades, Noreen remains haunted by the loss of the other babies and continues to struggle with the trauma.
Written by urgent.news from MedPage Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
