They were friends indeed to two doctors in need!

SURAT/AHMEDABAD: Reel friendship immortalized by Bollywood blockbuster ‘Three Idiots’ song ‘Jaane nahi denge tujhe…’ was played in real life in Covid-19 pandemic when two sets of friends from Surat and Ahmedabad moved heaven and earth in a bid to save two doctors from the jaws of death.
Dr Sanket Mehta, a Surat-based anesthesiologist, came back from the brink after a total 96 days of hospitalization. There was a time when Dr Mehta had machines breathing for him and he showed no chance of recovery.
Dr Mehta’s friends Dr Jayesh Thakral, Dr Sandeep Patel and Dr Hiren Shah dug in their heels that if there was only 1% chance of his survival, they were ready to bet on that. The friends along with relatives raised Rs 80 lakh through crowdfunding and another Rs 8 lakh from the doctor fraternity to shift Dr Mehta to Chennai in an air ambulance.
“If I am alive today it is because of my friends who refused to concede defeat and let me go,” an emotional Dr Mehta told TOI. The good doctor himself won many hearts when a video of him risking his own life in Covid-19 ICU as a patient to intubate another patient went viral on social media.
“It was a tough call for the family, but we convinced them that we wish the best for him, and we would take responsibility for the risks we were running,” said Dr Thakral.
Likewise, Dr Patel in Ahmedabad too had great friends rallying for him when he fought for life during second wave. Dr Patel succumbed but his friends say their consolation is they did all to give him a fighting chance.
Dr Patel (43) and his entire family was Covid positive in May at the peak of the second wave. He lost his father and later became critical with severe Covid-19 with his lungs becoming completely non-functional.
Shailesh Patel, owner of a medical store and Dr Patel’s friend for over 15 years, said that all his batchmates such as Dr Pranav Joshi and Dr Vismit Joshipura came together to support Dr Patel. “We did all we could – right from getting the emergency bed to raising funds – to get one fighting chance for Dr Patel,” he said.
Patel not only went to Chennai ahead of the air ambulance at the end of May and arranged for the room at the hospital, but also ensured all the logistics and support for Dr Patel’s family back home. After his unfortunate demise mid-June, Patel got his clinic on Anandnagar road on rent so that his family is looked after. “Dr Patel never said no to any of his friends or patients,” said Patel. The friends had raised close to Rs 1 crore for Dr Patel’s treatment.