Fasting on the frontline: Karachi ambulance driver navigates chaos to save lives during Ramadan

Arab News

14-03-2025

KARACHI: In Karachi, where traffic is relentless and sirens are a constant, 63-year-old Ghulam Nabi has spent the past 14 years behind the wheel of an Edhi Foundation ambulance, responding to emergencies in a city where every second can mean the difference between life and death.
The Edhi Foundation, one of the world's largest charities, operates nearly 1,800 ambulances, including over 200 in Karachi, where it was founded by the late veteran philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, who passed away in July 2016. Nabi is one of the hundreds of drivers keeping the wheels of these ambulances going.
Even during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, he remains committed to his duty. Often, his iftar — the evening meal to break the fast, which most people share with their families at home — happens on the road, between dispatches.
'Whether it's sunny, hot, stormy, rainy, Ramadan or Eid, no matter what, we have to do our duty and serve humanity,' he said in a recent conversation with Arab News.
Living in an old apartment in the city's historic Kharadar area, he begins his day by walking to the Edhi headquarters nearly a kilometer away. From there, his shift unfolds unpredictably, sometimes requiring him to attend to road accidents, rush cardiac arrest patients to hospitals or transport the deceased to their final resting places.
'Just yesterday, it was time to break the fast. Five to ten minutes before iftar, we were informed that an accident had occurred on Mai Kolachi Road,' Nabi recalled, adding that he had to leave iftar and rush to the spot.
'On the way, someone gave us dates, and we broke our fast with them,' he added.
Nabi recalled that at one point during Ramadan, he was asked to pick up a corpse from a house where it had remained unattended for nearly a week. As he reached the place, he realized it was decomposed and in such a condition that no one wanted to go near it.
But Nabi handled it, giving it to the relatives in a casket after completing the required legal procedures.
'We had to carry the body while fasting,' he said.
'FRONTLINE HEROES'
Muhammad Amin, who oversees the Karachi Control Room at the Edhi Foundation, holds his team, particularly Nabi, in high esteem.
'He is an excellent driver, and all the qualities required in his job are found in him,' he told Arab News. 'From keeping the ambulance clean to its general upkeep, following driving protocols and handling emergencies, Ghulam Nabi excels in all these aspects.'
Amin noted Ramadan always brought unique challenges to the drivers since their workload never decreased.
'There was a fire near Chakar Hotel on the Super Highway [yesterday], where our team, which included the drivers, went,' he said. 'The drivers were fasting, but they worked through the fire and performed their duties.'
'If you look at it, these drivers can truly be called our frontline heroes,' he added.
Nabi said his entry into this line of work was unexpected. He used to run a small business that suffered losses, forcing him to shut it down. As he started looking for employment opportunities, a friend referred him to Edhi in 2010.
'Since that day, I have been engaged in humanitarian work,' he said.
'SAVING HUMANITY'
Karachi, a megacity with over 20 million people, suffers from broken roads, congested streets and widespread disregard for traffic rules. These conditions significantly increase the challenges of Nabi's job, making him fear that he might not be able to reach people in need on time.
Despite such hardships, he said he was proud of his work and found fulfillment in transporting patients and the injured to hospitals for treatment.
'Whoever saves a life, saves all of humanity,' he said, his eyes shining.
To Nabi, his work is a continuation of the legacy of Abdul Sattar Edhi, the late humanitarian whose foundation has provided free ambulance services for decades.
'Here, we are carrying forward Edhi Sahib's mission,' he said. 'Humanitarian work will never stop.'
As dusk falls and families across Karachi gather for iftar at home, Nabi finds himself away from his loved ones.
'Our hearts also long to break our fast with our children, but our iftar is often on the road or in the ambulance, and we have to break our fast with dates or water,' he said, as he opened his fast with the evening prayer call while sitting on a roadside bench in a Karachi street.