In a heart-wrenching incident a father, who is a ward boy in Lokbandhu Hospital in UP, couldn’t perform the last rites of his 3-year-old son because of COVID-19 medical protocol.
While many in our society are harassing the health workers, Manish Kumar’s (27) heart-touching story is a reflection of how these corona warriors are prioritizing their patients over their own families. One thing they deserve the most is RESPECT!
While this brave father was serving his patients, his 3-year-old son was fighting for his life in another hospital, A battle that he eventually lost. But in order to follow the medical protocols, Manish could not even perform the last rites of his son. He had no other choice but to watch it from a distance as his family members completed the rituals.
On Saturday night, when he was serving patients at an isolation ward in the Level-2 government COVID-19 hospital, he received a tragic call that broke his heart and soul. During the call, he was informed that his son, Harshit, was having difficulty breathing and also had a stomachache.
While narrating the episode to PTI, teary-eyed Manish mentioned:
“When I got the call, I became restless but could not leave the hospital immediately. My family members took my son to the King George’s Medical University. They kept sending me his pictures on WhatsApp. At about 2 am he left the world, leaving all of us behind.
I wanted to see my son but decided not to tell my colleagues as I did not want to leave my patients to fend for themselves. But noticing the frequent calls I was getting and seeing my condition, they realised something is wrong and asked me to leave.”
While taking all the precautions, Manish reached KGMU, where his son’s body was kept. Following the protocol, however, he did not enter inside and kept waiting for his son to come out.
“I saw him from a distance as my family members took him home and I followed them on my bike. I wanted to embrace my son and hold him as I could not accept that he is no more.”
Irrespective of his loss, this brave soul chose not to step into his house to protect his family from possible coronavirus infection.
“I did not enter my house and sat on the verandah near the gate. Next day, he was cremated by family members as I could not even touch his body as advised by my seniors to avoid any infection.”
Because, there were other people involved in cremation, his touching the body could have created problems for others. Hence, this brave soul chose not to touch his son for the last time but to see him from a distance.
Left with some fond memories of his son in the form of some videos and pictures, this brave soul is still ready to join back his duty. When asked when he will be joining duty, he said, “Very soon.”
“At present I am spending time consoling my wife, that too maintaining a safe distance. I am not entering home and spending time on verandah. I will resume my duties in day or two. Patients are waiting to be attended. I will find solace in serving them,”
It fills our heart with pain to see how some segments of our society are harassing health workers, while they are making selfless sacrifices at every step. We are in awe of their courage and hope you, like many of our community members, would celebrate their selfless sacrifices. Because they are our REAL HEROES!
