Abdul Sattar Edhi: ‘The greatest thing Islam teaches is humanity’

Edhi’s Network of Ambulances

Edhi’s first ambulance was a dented blue car bought in 1957 from donations by a local businessman, on which he painted “Poor Man’s Van.” He drove it himself night and day, taking the injured to the hospital and unclaimed bodies for washing and burial. “I brought back bloated, drowned bodies from the sea. Black bodies that crumbled with one touch. I picked them up from rivers, from inside wells, from roadsides, accident sites and hospitals. I picked them up from manholes and gutters, from under bridges, from railway bogies, from tracks, water sheds and drains. I brought them home, to my work force, spreading the stench in the air forever. Then I bathed and cared for each and every victim of circumstance, just like I had done for my mother,” he wrote in his autobiography.

Today, there are more than 2,000 ambulances; it’s considered the largest volunteer ambulance fleet in the world.

Soon I got my first opportunity to meet this extraordinary man.