Gujarat: Kin locked down, boss does worker’s last rites

AHMEDABAD: In death, the Covid lockdown separated Santosh Kumar Swain, 27, from his family in Odisha. It fell on Swain’s boss, Anup Patel, 37, to oversee the final farewell.
Patel, a co-owner of a private packaging unit in Zak village of Dehgam, performed the last rites of Swain. The family members of Swain could not travel from Cuttack in Odisha because of the strict lockdown restrictions.
The last six days had been tense for Patel as Swain, whom Patel described as one of his best hands at the factory, fell unconscious on June 1 night. Swain was taken to a private hospital in Kudasan in Gandhinagar. Swain was initially diagnosed with altered sensorium, a condition in which one loses consciousness repeatedly. But soon his condition deteriorated and a ventilator was needed.
After consulting his cousin, who was studying medicine at Civil Hospital, Patel approached two other hospitals in Gandhinagar. One ran a CT scan and said that Swain had a pneumonia patch and needed a ventilator and should be taken to Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.
Patel took Swain there and secured a ventilator bed which was available only at the Covid section. “We had no choice, because a ventilator was required for his survival,” Patel said. “He had liver issues as well. These were some of the tensest moments of my life — being at the Covid care centre.” Patel went on to say: “But I was his only family here. I had to be with him.”
On June 5, Swain tested negative for Covid. The following day, at 11pm, he died. “Not a single airline was ready to take his body. A train was out of the question,” Patel said. “His family was getting tense. The only option was sending his mortal remains via road. That would have taken 40 hours. I then volunteered to perform the last rites at Dudheshwar crematorium.”
Swain’s family members witnessed the last rites over a video call on Sunday afternoon. “Santosh and his brother had come from Odisha to work with me,” Patel said. “Both have been like family for me. I lost a reliable and trustworthy colleague.”