Other side of Sept 30: A family waited anxiously for their son — Capt Smit Machchhar
This piece details the personal experience of Captain Smit Machchhar's family following his heroic actions during a mid-flight hijacking attempt. It focuses on the family's emotional journey and the government's intervention to ensure they could reach him in the hospital.
Why it matters
It humanizes a major news event by highlighting the personal toll on the families of those involved in high-stakes security incidents.
MUMBAI: To the world, September 30 was the day a terror attack was thwarted. To Captain Smit Machchhar’s parents, it was the night their only child lay wounded and alone in a military hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, deep lacerations across his body, tubes running in and out of him.While the world was already beginning to call him a hero, his parents in Mumbai were still living inside the uncertainty of those first terrible hours. They had no clear word on his condition. No assurance that their son would survive. They were trying to find a flight to him, but airline schedules offered little mercy. There was nothing left to do but pray.It was only around 10am on Thursday that they managed to board a flight.
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