Pakistan's 'Iron Lady' calls it a day

Karachi: Its curtains down for Pakistan's "Iron Lady" Dr Seemin Jamali, who has treated hundreds of victims of terror attacks and other crisis situations in her over three decades of service and takes pride in how she has been able to tide over all the challenges she has faced during her tenure.

Having served at the state-run Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in various capacities for 33 years, her name is synonymous with the emergency ward at the hospital located near the central cantt area of Karachi in Sindh province. "It has been a very fulfilling journey for me because while we saw hundreds of lives sniffed out, we also saved thousands in the emergency ward," she said during her retirement ceremony on Thursday.

During her service, she has treated hundreds of bomb blast, terror attack, building collapse victims in the emergency ward. Dr Jamali, who is also known as the "bullet lady" or "bomb-proof lady", has also faced threats to her life, attacks and targeted campaigns aiming to malign her because of her position. "I don't think I would have been able to manage all these years without the support of my family,"

Jamali, who retired as the Executive Director at the JPMC, said adding that her life was in the emergency ward. JPMC is the city's largest tertiary care hospital and its emergency ward treats up to 2,000 patients on an average daily and almost all are tended to free of charge. "It is not only about the daily care at the emergency ward. I am proud of the way we have responded when hundreds of people have been brought here from bomb blasts, terror attacks, plane crashes, building collapses, fires or mob violence," she said.

"It is about how we did respond when under pressure dealing with angry relatives, families, political parties, shortage of medicines, beds and what not," she said. She was also diagnosed with colon cancer last year but she continued working and successfully managed to get treatment and defeat it as well.