Hyderabad: In a first-of-its-kind event in India, autopsy surgeons took to the streets to fight preventable deaths. They spend their days examining the dead. On Sunday morning, May 10, they ran for the living.

In what is believed to be an unprecedented event in Indian medical history, forensic pathologists, autopsy surgeons, medico-legal experts and forensic medicine professors from across Telangana stepped out of mortuary halls and onto the streets of Necklace Road, Hyderabad, for a 5K health awareness marathon organised by the Telangana Academy of Forensic Medicine (TGAFM).

The event, held on the eve of National Forensic Medicine Day on May 12, drew nearly 300 participants, including doctors, postgraduate students, and families. Around 25 to 30 children also joined the run, lending it a rare and powerful symbolism-the next generation running alongside the doctors who witness, more than anyone else, what happens when health is neglected.

What the autopsy table taught

The driving idea behind the marathon was rooted in something forensic specialists understand at a visceral level.

An autopsy surgeon at institutions like Gandhi Medical College or Osmania Medical College may conduct 20 to 30 post-mortems in a single day, examining deaths from road accidents, cardiac events, suicide, substance abuse, and untreated lifestyle diseases. Behind each body was a family shattered, often preventably.

TGAFM organised the marathon under the theme “Run for Health, Run for Justice,” arguing that the knowledge gathered in mortuary rooms must now be channelled into public health awareness before more families are destroyed by avoidable tragedy.

A movement, not just a marathon

The academy said this was only the beginning. Plans included road safety drives, anti-drug campaigns, mental health awareness programmes, and suicide prevention initiatives, all led by forensic specialists whose unique exposure to preventable death made them, arguably, the most qualified advocates for prevention in the country.