Meet Ambulance Dada: The Padma Shri Hero Racing Against Time, Mud, And Monsoons To Deliver Hope

The fog doesn’t just hang over Dhalabari’s tea gardens; it crawls along the twisting, muddy trails, masking potholes, hiding sudden drops, and daring anyone to cross. Most villagers tread cautiously. Karimul Haque, “Ambulance Dada,” doesn’t. On his battered motorcycle, he threads through the mist like it were air, carrying more than patients and carrying life itself.

The Lifeline of Dhalabari: Ambulance Dada

The Remarkable Story of Karimul Haque – The Ambulance Dada.

After losing his mother due to a lack of timely medical help, Karimul Haque, a tea garden worker in West Bengal, turned his motorcycle into a makeshift ambulance. For over a decade, he has been providing free emergency… pic.twitter.com/7jGWFjgseG

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According to Wikipedia, since 1998, Ambulance Dada has transported over 5,500 people to hospitals, battling monsoon-swollen rivers, landslides, mud-slicked slopes, and night that falls heavy and early. His tools are simple: grit, a rattling bike, and a battered first-aid kit.

Karimul Haque’s mission began in heartbreak. In 1995, his mother died of a heart attack because no ambulance could reach their remote village in time. The helplessness settled in his chest, heavy, sharp, and impossible to ignore. Soon after, a colleague collapsed in the tea gardens. Haque lifted him onto his back and wove across uneven trails, every bump a reminder of his mother, and every slip becoming a test of resolve. That ride became a vow: no one would die waiting.

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A Journey Of Compassion

The Dooars is unforgiving. The nearest hospital can be 45 kilometres away, and during monsoons, those kilometres become rivers and trenches. Ambulance Dada moves anyway with free rides for anyone in need, first aid on the go and health camps in villages where doctors are rare. In 2017, he was honoured with the Padma Shri. “I may be 55,” he said. “But I feel as strong as ever. It’s my duty to serve.” Saving lives mattered more than any medal.

The true measure of Haque’s work is in the unseen: a child clinging to a damp shoulder, a mother’s hand trembling on the bike, and the roar of rain and wind as he pushes through darkness, never stopping. Each ride is a gamble, each patient a story, and each moment is a rebellion against helplessness.

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From grieving son to tireless guardian, Karimul Haque has turned tragedy into collective hope. He is a lifeline, a pulse of hope, and proof that one person’s courage and empathy can carry more than people: it can carry survival, dreams, and the fragile spark of life itself.

Cover Image Courtesy: monarchsuccess/X