In what can be called a true humanitarian gesture,
Bhasha Mukherjee, a 24-year-old Kolkata-born woman who was crowned
Miss England back in August 2019, has decided to put a pause on her charity work and return to her home country, England, to serve as a doctor, given the Covid-19 crisis.
After winning the crown, Mukherjee had decided to take a break from her medical career and do charity work instead. It was the coronavirus outbreak that changed Mukherjee’s decision.
In an interview with American news network
Fox News, Mukherjee said that it wasn’t a tough call for her to take. "I've been to Africa, Turkey, and India was the first of the Asian countries I was going to travel to. After India, I had several other countries that had to be cut short because of obviously the coronavirus. I knew the best place for me would be back at the hospital," the 24-year-old said.
It all started when Mukherjee was in India for four weeks in the month of March. That was when she started receiving messages from her colleagues at the Pilgrim Hospital in England.
In an interview with CNN, Mukherjee expressed that it felt wrong to be wearing her Miss England crown as the world is fighting with a deadly pandemic. "When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you're still expected to put the crown on, get ready... look pretty."
But, she added: "I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work."
Mukherjee’s colleagues were working long shifts and facing challenges they never had before. “I really wanted to join the task force right away,” the young doctor said.
Mukherjee returned to the UK on Wednesday. She will be self isolating before she returns to work as a doctor in Pilgrim Hospital.
UK is one of the worst-hit countries by the pandemic. The country has recorded more than 50,000 coronavirus cases.
The Prime Minister of Britain,
Boris Johnson tested positive for the novel coronavirus on March 27. On 7 April, Johnson was shifted to the ICU and was put on oxygen support after his symptoms worsened. Although he had received oxygen, his office said he was still conscious.
Covid-19: Lee Fierro, Patricia Bosworth & Other Icons The World Lost
Gone Too Soon
30 Mar, 2020
The Covid-19 outbreak has changed our world and turned it upside down. Life as we know it, might never be the same again and needless to say, the effects of this pandemic will be felt for decades to come.Not to say that some lives matter more than others, but the outbreak took away some of our beloved icons, trailblazers and trendsetters who had achieved tremendous success in their lifetime and were gone too soon.Here are a few who lost the battle to Covid-19.
Lee Fierro
6 Apr, 2020
Actor Lee Fierro, best known for playing Mrs Kintner in Steven Spielberg's ‘Jaws’, died of complications due to coronavirus.The actor had moved from her home on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where ‘Jaws’ was filmed, and was living in Ohio at an assisted-living facility.Fierro is survived by her five children, seven grand-children and seven great-grandchildren(With inputs from PTI)
Patricia Bosworth
6 Apr, 2020
Patricia Bosworth, an actress who once starred alongside Audrey Hepburn and later wrote biographies on several stars including Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, died due to the coronavirus on Sunday. She was 86.Bosworth's stepdaughter, Fia Hatsav, told The New York Times that pneumonia brought on by the virus was the cause of death.(With inputs from PTI)
Sergio Rossi
6 Apr, 2020
Celebrated Italian shoe designer Sergio Rossi died at the age of 84 from complications over novel coronavirus on Saturday.The shoemaker died on Thursday in Italy's Cesena, a city in Emilia-Romagna, one of the regions hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.Riccardo Sciutto, CEO of the Sergio Rossi Group, shared the news of the designer's demise on Instagram.(With inputs from PTI)
Bill Withers
6 Apr, 2020
Bill Withers, the legendary performer who defined 1970s soul with timeless hits like "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me" died on Friday , his family said in a statement. He was 81 years old.The Grammy-winning artist succumbed to heart complications, according to his family, which said it was "devastated" over the loss."A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large, with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other," they said.(With inputs from AFP)