Mohammed Saiyub cradles his friend Amrit Kumar’s head in his arms.

Amrit Kumar was already feeling feverish when Mohammed Saiyub and other migrant workers boarded a truck at Surat early on Thursday. The two friends, both 23 years old, worked in different textile units but shared a room because they belonged to the same village in Basti in Uttar Pradesh, hundreds of kilometres away from Gujarat.

The paracetamol tablets they had stocked were of little help as Amrit’s condition did not improve through the journey atop the truck in scorching heat. When the vehicle reached Kolaras in Madhya Pradesh on Friday, Amrit’s health deteriorated. When Saiyub sought medical help for his friend, neither workers nor the truck driver wanted to wait.

“Dar nahi laga. Yehi lag raha tha ki ye jaldi thik ho jaye aur ghar pahunch jaaye sahi salamat. Mere parents bhi intezar kar rahe the uske mammi papa bhi. Jab tak ilaz nahi hota mai yahi rahunga (I was not scared. I wanted him to get better so that we could reach home safe. Our parents were waiting for us. I will stay with him till he is cured),” said the 23-year-old while speaking to The Indian Express from an isolation facility in Shivpuri district hospital on Sunday.

When Amrit got down, the driver asked Saiyub to pass his friend’s luggage and take his place in the truck. “Mai nahi aane wala. Tum logonko jaana hai to jao. Aise halat mein chhod ke kaise ja sakta hu (I am not going to continue. If you want you can leave. How could I leave (him) in such condition,” Saiyub told the driver and others before getting down.

Mohammed Saiyub rushes his friend to the hospital in an ambulance.

As Amrit continued to sink, Saiyub sat cradling his friend by the roadside, an image that has gone viral on the social media. A half-empty water bottle and a red backpack lay next to the two friends. When an ambulance arrived a few minutes later, another image showed Saiyub hurrying to move his friend inside. Before the ambulance arrived he used his handkerchief and water to lower his friend’s temperature.

“I realized he may not survive. He tried to speak but could make only some sounds,” said Saiyub, who is waiting for his and his friend’s Covid-19 test results. Amrit was taken to the community health centre in Kolaras where Dr Vivek Sharma tried to revive him. “His sugar was low. I gave him ORS. His temperature was high. I thought it was a case of heat stroke. He had febrile convulsions,’” said Dr Sharma, who took Saiyub for Amrit’s brother because he was constantly touching his friend. “Even ward boys are scared to touch patients these days. They have to be pushed to do so.”

Several migrant workers are trying to return home on foot ever since the nation wide lockdown came into force. (Express photo/Nirmal Harindran)

Amrit was then referred to Shivpuri, the district headquarters, about 25 kms away. He died late on Friday. Shivpuri chief medical and health officer Dr A L Sharma said samples were taken because Amrit and his friend had arrived from a red zone. He said Amrit’s lungs were clear but he had severe dehydration. He was shifted to ICU and was kept on ventilator but he died around midnight. Till the reports arrive, doctors and staff who treated Amrit have gone in quarantine.

Saiyub said being the sole breadwinner for his family his friend was always tensed. He earned around Rs 10,000 and had to send enough money to support his two siblings and parents. He said Amrit had spoken to the driver and paid for both of them.