This is a terrible time to fall ill, more so if your health issue turns serious. In many cases, COVID-19 is not even suspected; for a 59-year-old woman from Bandra, it started with typhoid and for a 63-year-old man from Worli, it began with hiccups.
Underlying all these stories, is one thread: hospitals push patients away, and the worst of humanity is on display for their families.
Taken for a ride
The family of a 93-year-old retired businessman from Sion went through a gut-wrenching ordeal soon after he developed a mild fever last week. On April 24, the fourth day of the fever, he started to complain of mild breathlessness.
His family took him to Thane’s Jupiter Hospital, hoping to consult a physician. While the hospital started him on treatment in the isolation area, the doctors advised the family to shift him to a nearby facility, which admitted patients feared to have the novel coronavirus.
It was not just the shuffling from one healthcare facility to another that the family suffered; there was more in store. “We called for an ambulance, which charged us ₹14,000 for the 10-minute ride,” said the victim’s son.
His father was admitted to the facility and his COVID-19 reports returned positive the next day. But by then, his condition was serious. “We began looking for ICU beds and found one at S.L. Raheja Hospital in Mahim. We got him admitted at 11.30 p.m. on April 25,” said the son.
The ambulance ride from Thane to Mahim cost them another ₹12,000. The patient died on April 26.
Dadar electric crematorium staff in protective suit leaving after performing final rites of a COVID-19 victim. | Photo Credit: PrashantNakwe
The ordeal didn’t end there. An ambulance carrying the body reached the Shivaji Park crematorium, and the driver refused to help in removing the body; he said his job was only to drive. Crematorium staff said their job began inside the crematorium.
“Eventually, I wore the personal protective equipment and began to take the body out. Some of the crematorium staff came to help,” said the son.
The victim did not have any underlying ailments, said the son; he would practise yoga and slept on time every day, which had kept him healthy.
While their residential building in Sion has now been sealed by the municipal corporation, the son is still puzzled about how his father got the infection.
A bout of hiccups
On April 14, a 63-year-old retired civic employee from Worli’s Siddharth Nagar experienced a sudden bout of hiccups, for which his family consulted a general physician on phone.
Worli is in the G-South Ward, which has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the city.
The physician, though, suggested home remedies like having water with sugar and honey at regular intervals. Four days later, on April 18, when his hiccups increased, family members ventured out of their locality looking for a doctor.
“He had no symptoms like fever, cough or breathlessness. Therefore, we did not suspect COVID-19. A neighbour told us about a doctor in Prabhadevi, so we took him there,” said the victim’s nephew.
The Prabhadevi doctor, a homeopath, put him on intravenous fluids and prescribed antacids. On April 21, the hiccups aggravated, so the family member took the patient all the way to a physician in Malad on a motorcycle. “The Malad doctor told us he had suffered a minor stroke and suggested that we take him to a government hospital,” said the nephew.
The patient was taken to Parel’s KEM Hospital where the doctors told them his oxygen levels were extremely low. The next day, the family was informed that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in a critical condition. After battling for life for six days, the patient was declared dead at 4.30 p.m. on April 27.
The family’s ordeal continued as the victim’s body was moved from the ward to the mortuary only 24 hours later. It took another 24 hours for them to get the body to perform the last rites. “No one wanted to touch the body. One of the mortuary staff members on night duty began to argue, saying he had a six-month-old baby at home and that he had just resumed duty after 14 days in quarantine,” said the nephew.
The last rites were carried out on April 29. “We still don’t believe that he had COVID-19,” the patient’s nephew said.
Fever and more
A 59-year-old housekeeping staffer from Naval Dockyard developed a mild fever on April 23.
The Bandra East resident went to a local doctor who prescribed her medication and advised a blood test. Her reports returned positive for typhoid the next day. But by then, she developed a cough and began to feel breathless. Government Colony, where the victim lived, has reported many COVID-19 cases over the past weeks.
On the night of April 24, the patient’s son took her to Holy Family Hospital. Doctors immediately carried out an x-ray, which revealed pneumonia. “As they suspected COVID-19, they referred us to the civic-run Nair Hospital,” said the patient’s son.
They reached Nair at around 1 a.m. on April 25. The son, who works as a driver in an app-based taxi service, said his mother was admitted to Ward No. 16 on the first floor and immediately put on oxygen support. “A while later, they called out her name on the speaker and asked me to come to the ward. It turned out that she had soiled the stretcher and they did not have any staff to clean. So, we cleaned her and put on a diaper,” said the son. All the while, the mother was conscious and talking.
At around 10 a.m. the next day, the doctors informed the family that she had died. The son said she was hypertensive and had a heart ailment. They were informed that her COVID-19 test results came in as positive after her death. The son and eight other family members are now under quarantine at the Mumbai University campus.