Andaman nurse in race to win prestigious global nursing award

Shanti Teresa Lakra, a nurse from Port Blair, who braved through a cyclone to vaccinate the Jarawa tribe, is being considered for the prestigious Global Nursing Award 2023.

As the Covid pandemic raged through the world, a 49-year-old nurse — Shanti Teresa Lakra — who works at the GB Pant Hospital in Port Blair, braved cyclonic tides to travel by a dinghy to Tirur island to vaccinate the primitive Jarawa tribe to save them from being wiped out by the disease in 2021.

At age 51, she is currently being considered for the prestigious Global Nursing Award 2023.

Two years ago, while travelling through the choppy seas, Ms. Shanti, who was leading a small medical team, had once thought that they would be unable to make it when their dinghy was caught in a storm in the Andaman Sea.

“The sea was extraordinarily rough, and we thought we were all going to drown … But God willed it otherwise, and we managed to reach and vaccinate the Jarawas successfully. We also managed to explain to them the precautionary measures they have to take during the pandemic,” Ms. Shanti told PTI from London.

The Jarawas, who have minimal contact with outsiders, were considered particularly vulnerable to the disease as the tribe has little medical help available to it at the best of times.

Over the years, Ms. Shanti’s dedicated service to the primitive tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has paid off as she was selected for the top ten finalists for the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2023, honours nursing staff worldwide.