Cured of Covid, philanthropist gets back to serving patients

Rajkot: A brush with novel coronavirus happens to be a tough chapter in a patient’s life — not just physically, but psychologically too. However, even amid all the trauma some don’t get bitter, but definitely better.
Meet 47-year-old Hitesh Sarvaiya, a mobile phone showroom owner in Savarkundla, who went through the entire Covid-19 drill – from 10 days stay at the civil hospital in Amreli to four more days at a quarantine centre – and yet he finds time and energy to fight the virus his way.
Sarvaiya, who got discharged from the hospital on July 4, said, “Coronavirus breaks down any person mentally and I too was affected. But when I serve people and see them get benefited, I get more strengthened.”
Sarvaiya had always been lending a helping hand to whoever needed his services — from providing ambulances to orthopaedic tools among many other things. However, after staying at the hospital himself, he got to observe the woes of patients coming to the civil hospital.
Touched by their difficulties, especially in getting good food, Sarvaiya decided to provide food to patients and their relatives. He also provides maternity kits to pregnant women in the hospital.
“After I got discharged, I formed ‘Seva Deep’ — a platform of 65 youths — who help me provide food to people from a humble background at the hospital,” said Sarvaiya who feeds 15 people daily at the hospital in Savarkundla.
He further said that the packets are generously filled so that people do not stay happy for several hours. While the services are limited to just one hospital at present, he hopes to soon expand it to other hospitals too.
“Women who cannot afford costly treatment or baby care products come to the civil hospital for delivery,” said the philanthropist who started providing such expecting moms with a maternity kit comprising a gown for the mother, a bedsheet, socks and clothes for the newborn.
So far, Sarvaiya has provided around 500 such kits to needy women.