Chennai ambulance drivers travel over 3,000 km to take body to Mizoram, turn heroes

It was a road trip they had not imagined even in their dreams as they drove over 3,000 km across the country to take the mortal remains of Vivian Lalremsanga all the way to Aizawl.

"The sudden trip, the arduous journey and spontaneous commendation from the people of Mizoram, their chief minister (Zoramthanga), the rousing reception from the people and IAS and IPS officers are unforgettable moments in our lives,"said P Jeyanthiran and S Chinnathambi, drivers of Annai Kasturi Ambulance Service, Purasawakkam, here.

"We never expected to arrive to a hero's welcome. Little did we realise that we would get such royal treatment," they told PTI.

They commenced their journey on the midnight of April 24 and reached the destination at 4 pm on April 27.

Earlier, the duo set out on the arduous roadtrip after they volunteered to move the mortal remains of Lalremsanga a student, who died of a heart attack, to his home in Model Veng.

As the Chennai Mizo Welfare Association was getting ready to bury him here due to lack of means to transport the body during the lockdown, Nandakumar, owner of the Ambulance Service received a call from the Royapettah Government hospital to help shift the body to Mizoram.

Immediately, he asked his drivers if they were prepared for the tough road ahead.

Jeyanthiran, with a two decade experience and having travelled in the past to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, volunteered, and was joined by Chinnathambi.

"This is a great humane gesture to shift the body of Vivian Lalremsanga, during the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, putting their lives at peril," said R Lalvena, President of Chennai Mizo Welfare Association.

The state government, police and medical officials responded with good intention and helped them, he added.

Traversing hitherto unknown roads, cruising through the high security gates on the highways and inter-state borders during the lockdown to contain the spread of Coronavirus, they reached their destination after three and a half days of backbreaking driving.

"This is our first trip to Mizoram and also the first successful attempt to hand over the mortal remains after traversing non-stop for 3,345 km from Chennai.

We were told that we have to cover about 3,100 km, but we had to travel the extra 200 km to reach Model Veng," Jeyanthiran, who hails from Thanjavur said.

Of the entire distance, they had to cover about 550 km in the hilly region where the roads are mostly one-way.

The duo took turns to man the vehicle, cruising at about 90 km per hour speed throughout, before slowing down to 40 to 50 km per hour to cover the last leg of 550 km in the hilly terrain, Jeyanthiran, and Chinnathambi, a Villupuram native said.

"We survived on bread or bun till we reached Model Veng. Now we are relaxed. The people have given us enough goodies to eat on our way back home.

After the tedious journey, we are now resting in Kolkata. We will reach Chennai by tomorrow morning or evening," Chinnathambi said.

With the task completed, they have sacrificed speed during their return home, besides ensuring the occasional breaks.

Not only that, they were also presented with a cash award by Mizoram Minister of Social Welfare, K Beichhua, who represented the state Chief Minister.

The Mizoram CM acknowledged the gesture in his tweet, expressing gratitude to his Tamil Nadu counterpart K Palaniswami for clearing the way for the ambulance to cut through the security nets.