A tree may have saved the life of a 26-year-old woman who allegedly jumped from the 10th floor of an SRA building in Bhandup West, although a branch pierced her thigh and left her suspended about 20 feet above the ground.
The woman reportedly jumped from the ground-plus-21-storey SRA building at around 9.30am. The Mumbai Fire Brigade received the emergency call at 9.33am and rushed to the spot.
Fire brigade personnel found that the tree had broken the woman’s fall. However, a branch measuring around 50-60mm in diameter had pierced her right thigh, leaving her suspended from the tree.
“Our personnel reached the branch with the help of an Angus ladder,” a fire brigade officer said.
A team led by station officer VS Bandgar arrived with a quick response vehicle and began a carefully coordinated rescue. Firefighters first used an electric saw to cut the section of the branch lodged in the woman’s thigh, taking precautions to prevent further injury.
At the same time, they secured a canvas stretcher, fashioned like a sling, beneath her. Ropes attached to the upper floors of the building were used to stabilise the stretcher and support the woman during the operation.
Once she was safely brought down, firefighters cut the branch on both sides of the portion embedded in her thigh so she could be transported to hospital.
“We did not try to remove the pieces of the branch lodged in the thigh for medical reasons,” a fire brigade official said.
The official said the tree effectively saved the woman by arresting her fall. “Though the tree was tall, it was not a big tree; it hardly had a few branches,” he said.
The woman remained conscious after the fall. She was initially taken to Agrawal Hospital, where she received primary treatment, before being shifted to Sion Hospital for emergency surgery.
Police said the woman’s statement had not yet been recorded and no case had been registered at the time. “It looks like she attempted suicide. She got married four months ago. We will record her statement later,” a Bhandup police officer said.
