A PREGNANT mother, who was suffering labour pains, and was being rushed to the hospital nearly sustained serious injuries or even worse, lose her life, when the ambulance transporting her was stoned in the early hours of New Year’s morning by thugs in Port Moresby. She was lucky the stone did not hit any of her vital organs but instead smashed the windscreen where her leg was resulting in broken glasses cutting one of her legs. Around 1am on New Year’s day, a St John Ambulance (SJA) vehicle call sign A21, received an emergency call from residents at 14-Mile outside Port Moresby asking for assistance to transport a pregnant woman having labour complications to the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH).
The ambulance, comprising of the driver and his medical officer, swiftly responded and went to the area and successfully picked up the patient. As they were heading back into the city around 1.30am, they encountered a partial road block at the Morobe Block at Nine-Mile.
According to Russell Bugana, the trainee medical officer onboard the vehicle, a group of drunkards were burning tyres and putting stones and other objects on the main road when they returned from 14-Mile. “We were negotiating the road block when they started swearing and throwing stones at us,” Mr Bugana said. “One of the stones hit the window of our vehicle.
. “Some of the broken glass fell and cut the patient’s leg.” Mr Bugana, 33, from Kemabolo village in Rigo, Central Province, said noticing tha.