90-year-old first slays nCov, then clot in lung

TNN | Apr 29, 2020, 04:15 IST

Rasul Rathod coming out of Sir T Hospital in Bhavnagar on Tuesday

Rajkot: Family of 90-year-old Rasul Rathod was rapturous on learning that he had successfully fought back novel coronavirus infection on April 20. But unlike other 20 patients who recovered, Rathod could not walk out of the hospital.
During his stay in Bhavnagar’s Sir T Hospital, Rathod developed pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in the artery in the lung that can be fatal many times.
But eight days on, Rathod has slayed both life-threatening conditions and emerged victorious. In fact, he is the second oldest Covid-19 patient in Gujarat to have fully recovered. Earlier, 92-year-old Razaak Kadri, also a resident of Bhavnagar was discharged from the hospital on April 16.
Rasul Rathod, 90, was discharged from the Sir T Hospital on Tuesday. The hospital staff gave him a rousing applause as Rathod was brought out on a wheel chair.
Dr. Sunil Panjvani of Sir T Hospital said, “It’s fairly common that a patient develops embolism during the Covid. In some patients, blood pressure drops due to embolism and this can be fatal. In Rasulbhai’s case, his blood pressure did not drop and that’s why we could save him.”
Interestingly, the state health department has asked Sir T Hospital to send the report of his treatment to all the government hospitals treating Covid patients as case study.
A resident of Madhiya Fali in Vadva that adjoins other cluster quarantined areas, Rathod was admitted on April 3 as he had high fever and cough. He tested positive the next day.
“As he did not use mobile phone, he did not know what was going on around him. However, we informed him that he needs to stay in isolation ward,” a doctor said.
Rathod, who worked in a textile mill, has been living a retired life for the last four decades. His 25-year-old grandson had tested positive when samples of the family were taken.
Rathod’s son Iqbal told TOI: “My father is very aged and can’t walk much. He goes out once in a day to sit with other persons of his age. We were surprised how he got infected with coronavirus. He doesn’t even have diabetes or blood pressure.”