In a city engulfed by flames and chaos on the night of June 12, one act of maternal instinct rose above it all, quietly heroic, fiercely determined, and quite literally life-saving.

Eight-month-old Dhyaansh Kachhadiya, the youngest survivor of the Air India IC171 crash in Ahmedabad, owes his life to his mother, Manisha Kachhadiya, who shielded him with her body as the aircraft plummeted into the residential quarters of BJ Medical College, killing 260 people.

Manisha, wife of Dr Kapil Kachhadiya, a super-speciality MCH student in urology at the college, was at home with their child when the Boeing 787-8 lost control and struck the building. As fire engulfed their flat in seconds, the young mother acted on sheer instinct, grabbing her baby and running blindly through choking smoke and blistering heat.

“There was a blackout for a second, and suddenly everything was on fire,” she told The Times of India. “There was a moment I thought we wouldn’t make it. But I had to for my child.”

Both mother and son sustained serious burn injuries-- Manisha with 25% burns, mainly on her face and arms, and Dhyaansh with 36% burns across his face, chest, arms, and abdomen. But the fight for survival didn’t end at the crash site.

At KD Hospital, where the two were admitted, doctors faced one of their most emotionally complex cases. The infant’s survival was uncertain, requiring ventilatory support, blood transfusions, and constant monitoring in the PICU. His lung had collapsed due to trauma, necessitating an intercostal drainage tube to restore function.

But it was Manisha’s courage, again, that made the difference.

When doctors determined that skin grafts would be needed to treat her baby’s burns, Manisha volunteered her own skin. Her body had shielded him from the flames; now it would help rebuild his. 

“The child’s recovery was medically challenging, given his age and extent of injuries,” said Dr Rutvij Parikh, the plastic surgeon who led the skin grafting procedure. “Using both his and his mother’s skin helped reduce the risk of rejection and infection.”

The medical team, including Dr Adit Desai, Dr Snehal Patel, Dr Tushar Patel, and Dr Mansi Dandnaik, worked across specialities to stabilise the mother and child. “This was not just a clinical case. It was a story of courage, of resilience and of a mother's will to protect,” said Dr Desai.

The hospital also confirmed that six patients from the crash were treated free of charge, underscoring the scale of the tragedy and the outpouring of support that followed.

Dr Kapil, meanwhile, stayed by his son’s side throughout often stepping in to manage dressings and night-time care despite the emotional toll.

Now, after five weeks of intensive treatment, both Manisha and Dhyaansh have been discharged from the hospital. The burns will heal in time, say doctors. But the story of survival fueled by love, selflessness, and sheer will, has already left its mark.

In the ashes of one of India’s worst aviation tragedies, this mother’s love became the most powerful force of all, defying fate, defying fire.