THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jayesh T J was on his way to work at the immigration bureau in Thiruvananthapuram airport on Sunday when he happened to check a notification. He had been conferred with a prestigious national honour -- the President’s Jeevan Raksha Padak for a chivalrous act of saving a 74-year-old woman from a well.
“It came as a complete surprise to me. The only fact before me was a woman of my mother’s age fighting for life, and there was no space for any second thought,” Jayesh said after the award declaration.
The incident occurred in September 2024 when Jayesh was serving as a sub-inspector with Puthoor police station in Kollam.
“We received a call that an elderly woman had fallen into a well. Since the well was filled with shrubs and nobody was certain of what could happen inside -- from potential snakebites to a lack of oxygen -- local residents were reluctant to go in,” Jayesh recalled.
When everyone thought the woman had died, he noticed a small ray of hope -- tiny bubbles coming up. An officer with nearly 11 years of experience in the fire force, Jayesh did not hesitate to step in for the rescue. “Ladder wasn’t the right choice, as the water was 25-feet deep. We even tried to insert a chair and lift her up, but due to practical difficulties, I had to tie her to my body and keep her out of the water,” Jayesh said, reliving the 40-odd unforgettable minutes of his life.
Since oxygen levels were low at the bottom of the well, his team continuously poured water into the well while Jayesh was holding the woman, waiting for the fire force team to arrive. On reaching dry ground and handing the woman safely to his team members, Jayesh fell unconscious.
“Even now, I’m frequently in contact with the lady and her family. Amma now considers me as her fourth child,” the officer said.
On the risk involved, he said many of his friends, even a year after the incident, tell him how fortunate he is to have come out of it alive.
“I even lost one of my colleagues recently when the wall of a similar well collapsed,” Jayesh said.