MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman who allegedly jumped from the 10th floor of an SRA building in Bhandup survived after her fall was broken by a tree. Mumbai fire brigade carried out a delicate rescue operation and brought her down from a height of about 20 feet after she was left suspended in the air, held by a branch of the tree that had pierced her thigh.“The victim jumped from the 10th floor of the ground-plus-21-storey SRA building in Bhandup West, around 9.30 am. We received a call at 9.33 am and reached there in no time. At the spot, we found that the tree had arrested her fall and a branch, approximately 50-60 mm in diameter, had pierced her right thigh, suspending the woman from the tree at a height of approximately 20 feet above the ground. Our personnel reached the branch with the help of an Angus ladder,” said a fire brigade officer.A Mumbai fire brigade team led by station officer VS Bandgar reached the spot with a quick response vehicle (QRV). The team first cut the branch lodged in the woman’s right thigh using an electric saw, while taking care not to cause further injury.Meanwhile, the personnel also set up a canvas stretcher, like a sling, which was held by ropes from the upper floors of the building to stabilise her. Thereafter, the woman was brought down safely. Subsequently, the fire brigade personnel further cut the branch lodged in the victim’s thigh on both sides to enable her to be taken to hospital.“We did not try to remove the pieces of the branch lodged in the thigh for medical reasons,” said a fire brigade official.“The woman was saved as she got stuck on the tree. Though the tree was tall, it was not a big tree; it hardly had a few branches,” said the official. The injured woman, who was conscious, was initially taken to Agrawal Hospital, where she was administered primary treatment, and was then moved to Sion Hospital for emergency surgery.“The woman’s statement has not been recorded yet and no case has been registered. It looks like she attempted suicide. She got married four months ago. We will record her statement later,” said a Bhandup police officer.
