‘Heartbreaking’: Indian villagers carry sick man 12km on makeshift stretcher to ambulance due to lack of roads (VIDEO)

Residents of a village in the southeastern Andhra Pradesh state raced against time as they covered 12 kilometers on foot to bring a severely ill man to an ambulance, which could not get to the patient in the roadless terrain.

Jarata Nagaraju, 22, from Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh, was suffering from an acute case of jaundice for several days and was in urgent need of medical help – the only problem was that the nearest place an ambulance could reach was 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) away from his home.

As the man’s condition was not getting better, his fellow villagers took matters in their own hands and set off on a grueling journey, carrying the ailing man on a makeshift stretcher all the way up to the road where the ambulance was waiting.

“Villagers of hamlet carried the patient for almost 12 km and reached a road. From there the patient was carried in an ambulance,” a doctor was quoted by ANI news agency as saying.

Nagaraju was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, and was administered first aid. He was then transported to another hospital for further treatment.

The video of the villagers’ dramatic rescue effort has sparked an outpouring of support for the man on social media.

“This is heartbreaking. I hope the old man gets healthy and their village gets road soon,” one person wrote.

Many used the occasion to lament the lack of basic infrastructure in what appears to be a tribal area, with some suggesting the man should have been airlifted.

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