Doctors rescue, treat elderly Covid positive couple stranded at home

Nagpur: At a time when even the rich and powerful are finding it difficult to get a bed and timely treatment, being old and alone could possibly show only the ugliest side of the pandemic. But an elderly couple, whose only daughter is in the US, was rescued and saved in time from their residence by a group of doctors from Seven Star hospital.
The private tertiary care hospital made certain exceptions and went an extra mile considering the plight of the couple who had no one to find them a bed or even inform civic authorities.
The couple’s son-in-law had contacted one of the hospital directors, Dr Sadashiv Bhole, on WhatsApp on August 28 and informed him about his wife’s ailing parents.
“Covid team in-charge Dr Mohan Nerker, intensivists Dr Avinash Gandhare and Dr Ramesh Hassani, quality and patient care service head Dr Poonam Sarda, and Dr Javeria Ashrafi ensured that the couple had a speedy recovery,” said Dr Bhole.
Dr Nerker said the couple was discharged within 10 days on September 8. “The 79-year-old man had fever chills, cough signs and breathlessness for two days. He got a Covid test done at home and was found positive. His 73-year-old wife is undergoing cancer treatment. Her haemoglobin had dropped and she too was admitted on September 2 after testing positive,” he said.
Dr Bhole said the hospital had no choice but to admit the couple without a custodian physically present during the process. “Generally, a patient has to be accompanied by a relative or known person. In this case, it wasn’t possible. Regular updates would be given on WhatsApp to the son-in-law and the daughter,” he said.
A family friend told the hospital staff that none among the daughter and son-in-law’s friends in Nagpur could help the ageing couple as they themselves were Covid positive while others feared catching the infection.
The husband and wife were admitted in the same ICU and kept next to each other. “They were happy to see each other in the ICU. They responded well to the medication. After recovery, the couple was dropped home in the hospital ambulance. They were very happy while returning home,” said Dr Nerker.
He said when the son-in-law enquired, there was no bed available in the hospital. “Fortunately, a patient got discharged and the elderly man got a bed. The admission was given after a lot of discussion with the Covid team as everything including food and personal care had to be provided by us. Looking at their condition, all agreed that they will look after the couple,” Dr Nerker said.
The hospital was also informed that the old couple was in big trouble as they also had no access to conveyance.
Recently, a 95-year-old Covid patient too was discharged from the same hospital after being reported in a critical stage. All relatives of the man had tested positive and there was no one to look after him. Yet, the Covid team treated him to recovery.
“We live in a typical world where kids are outside and elderly parents are all alone. Yet, things are not as dark as they seem. If there are helpless senior citizens, there are individuals to help them out,” said Dr Bhole.
The son-in-law and his wife told TOI over phone that they couldn’t travel to India and be with the elderly couple because of pandemic. “We are thankful to the hospital and its staff. My in-laws are very happy. My father-in-law had angioplasty and mother-in-law is a cancer patient. It wouldn’t have been possible for them to take care of each other,” he said.
The son-in-law added that hospital gave them updates five times a day and also arranged video calls. “I am so grateful to them. Hats off to the entire medical fraternity. You are no less than gods! Please take care of yourself,” he said in a message to the hospital.