Lucknow University’s ‘healers’ offer hope to Covid infected families

LUCKNOW: At a time when most of us are confined indoors, management students of Lucknow University are finding simple, yet powerfully effective ways — meals, pet care, grocery runs, and social support to name a few — to help Covid-infected families.
Healing touch, an initiative by these LU students has helped more than 200 families so far in 45 days.
And as we know, a will to help is not enough, the ‘Healing Touch’ continued even after the teacher leading the initiative got infected. Also, student members whose parents tested positive continued to take SOS calls and provided support to infected families in the city.
So far, incharge of the Institute of Management Sciences, Prof MK Agarwal and 13 LU management students have helped around 200 families in the city in the last 45 days.
“Students are working round-the-clock to help infected families. From delivering food to families where everyone got infected to elderlies who didn’t have anyone to bring medicines and other essentials it was management students who rushed to help people,” said Prof Agarwal who himself got infected during the healing touch initiative and was admitted to King Georges’ Medical University for around four days after his oxygen levels dipped to 85.
“I could not physically help students for around two weeks due to Covid and post Covid complications but the dedication of the students motivated me to be always available on phone,” he said.
“Sir didn’t tell us that he was infected and we kept on calling him to help us with contacts of health officials. Also, like him there were other students whose parents were infected but they continued to help by taking SOS calls, researching, and contacting as many people as they can for plasma and other essentials,” said a BBA student Vaibhav Dwivedi.
He said we had divided our Covid help team into four parts -- one was research team that had students Yash Vibhansh, Keshav Rai- Skand Rai, Aziz and Nihal khan who were always on the system to search and research any Covid related query asked by people, second one was the verification team that had Parul Gupta, Nandini Mishra, Vaibhav Dwivedi and Snehalata Yadav who ensured that patient was shifted to hospital only if beds were available, third was the data collection team that had Ananya Srivastava, Yash Vibhansh and Skand Rai that had all details of where and what prices the medicines, Remdesivir and oxygen cylinders are available and lastly the mapping team with Yash Srivastava, Jagriti and Aditi Singh that located patients that required help, he added.
“Faculty helped us with contacts and even students had good contacts to extend help. At present, the families of two students is still infected but they are continuing with the services,”he said
“A BBA student Jagriti’s father got infected and was admitted to King Georges Medical University, she took permission from KGMU officials and not only took care of her father but all elderlies in the Covid ward for 25 days. Another student Yash Srivastava has been on his toes to deliver Oxygen cylinders and other essentials to infected families,” said IMS faculty Pooja Sharma