For eight years, Akshay Sharma, a young boy from a poor family, lived in silence in Duggan. Born with a cleft lip and palate, he underwent surgery at the age of three, but still could not speak. His parents are surrounded by pureness and are unable to treat -almost the hope of listening to his son’s voice was lost.
Everything changed when an army doctor in the area crossed Akshay. Moving beyond the family struggle, he conducted basic check-ups and found that with proper treatment, the boy could learn to talk. Since no such facility was available in the remote village, the officer himself studied speech medical techniques and started working with Akshay.
Patience, he feels that, then words, and finally simple sentences. After months of practice, Akshay began talking with growing confidence.
The first time he called his parents, his eyes were well with tears. For them, it was not just a sound – it was a miracle. A dream that he had buried deeply in his hearts was alive. His house was once filled with silent prayers, now Akshay’s joy was echoing with nonsense.
What started as a task of a soldier’s kindness, touched an entire community. The compassion of the army doctor has left a permanent impression in Duggan – doing all that the army not only protects the boundaries, but also cures hearts, and in the most unpredictable moments, hopes where it needs most.
Earlier, the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), along with local police and district administration, was conducting rescue operations in Chasoti village in Kishtwar district after a disastrous flash flood by a cloudbers.
On Thursday, a huge cloudburst killed Chasoti village in Kishta district of Jammu and Kashmir, killing at least 60 people. Cloudbers, which occurred along the Machel Mata Yatra route, triggered flash floods and widespread destruction, causing several casualties between Yatris and residents.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited Chasoti to assess the damage and received a detailed briefing from army personnel. He also used a virtual reality (VR) headset to review the destruction and said that immediate relief measures would be taken to support the affected families.
On Friday, Abdullah confirmed that around 60 bodies were recovered so far, while the number of missing people was still being verified. (AI)
