They didn’t stop to mourn while healing others

Vadodara: During the vicious second wave of Covid-19 this year, Dr Shilpa Patel too had lost her mother who was battling the deadly virus in Covid ICU at state-run SSG Hospital.
While her 77-year-old mother Kanta Ambalal Patel passed away at 3.30 am, Dr Shilpa, an associate professor with anatomy department donned her PPE suit within six hours, staying true to her mother’s words – duty before everything else!
Like her, several doctors in hospitals of Vadodara were back in the saddle trying to save other lives even as they had themselves lost their parents or near and dear ones to coronavirus.
“Based on rotation, my Covid duty was supposed to begin at 9 am that day. But my mom departed before that,” recalls Dr Shilpa, adding that just a couple of hours before she passed away, her mother had insisted that she should stop worrying about her and concentrate on her duty.
“My parents always taught me to work with dedication. And that motivated me to keep working even during those trying times,” said the doctor, who along with her brother had carried their mother’s body wrapped as per Covid protocol in an ambulance and cremated her before returning to the hospital to join duty.
Dr Rahul Parmar, who was serving as nodal officer for Covid management and part of dead body disposal team at Central Gujarat’s biggest hospital too had rushed back to join duty after finishing cremation rituals of his 67-year-old mother Kanta Parmar.
His mother had passed away in Gandhinagar due to age-related issues. Dr Parmar, who is with the preventive and social medicine department resumed duty the very next day.
At Parul Sevashram Hospital, medical administrator Dr Krupa Vaghela continued serving Covid-19 patients despite her personal loss.
While she was serving as nodal officer for Covid-19 unit, parents of Dr Krupa had tested positive. She even lost her father who was undergoing treatment but she continued serving at the hospital without taking a single day off.