Phagwara couple spent Rs 7L on child’s treatment
Phagwara, April 23
The poor Phagwara couple, who lost their six-month-old daughter Ritika to congenital heart disease and coronavirus today, has ended up spending as much as Rs 7 lakh on her treatment in the past few months.
She was born at the Hoshiarpur Civil Hospital. We could sense that she has some problem as we could see some depression in her chest when she breathed. She was underweight, had problems in taking feed and used to sweat and cry a lot. We had taken her to hospitals in Jalandhar and Phagwara too in the past few months before taking her to Ludhiana and finally the PGI on April 9. Even six weeks before the lockdown, I have not been able to go to work as I had to attend to her.
Ramu, father of 6-month-old girl who died due to congenital heart disease and coronavirus
Ramu, father of the baby and a second generation migrant from Nepal, is a machine operator in a valve factory here. He said he sold all jewellery his wife had.
“In all, we could arrange Rs 1 lakh from home but hospital bills kept on inflating. We got some help from the factory owner where I and my father work. The rest came from my in-laws’ family and their relatives. We did all we could to save her but have lost the fight,” he shared his grief over phone an hour after the hospital authorities got her cremated in Chandigarh.
“We did not see the baby’s body and saw her last on yesterday afternoon. We were not allowed to go near her. Today, we were advised not to attend the last rites of our baby. It was not easy to part with her but we agreed to the doctor’s advice as we also have to go back home and take care for her twin brother Riyan, whom we have not seen since the past three weeks. He is with his grandfather, grandmother and aunt in Phagwara. Fortunately, me, my wife and my in-laws, who are here, have tested negative. We just finished the paper work. The doctors will give us some advisory. The Kapurthala authorities have arranged for an ambulance, which is on the way to ferry us to home as there is no other means to go, he said.
He shared his daughter’s medical history.
“She was born at the Hoshiarpur Civil Hospital. We could sense that she has some problem as we could see some depression in her chest as she used to breathe. She was underweight, had problems in taking feed and used to sweat and cry a lot. We had taken her to hospitals in Jalandhar and Phagwara too in the past few months before taking her to Ludhiana and finally the PGI on April 9. Even six weeks before the lockdown, I have not been able to go to work as I had to attend to her.”
“The cause of death was reported to be refractory shock, pulmonary artery hypertension and Covid-19,” read PGI’s official statement.
Chander Shekhar Gupta, owner of the factory where he works, said: “This family has been with us for 30 years. Even the baby’s grandfather is our watchman. We have been trying to comfort them with whatever aid we can provide.”
Family members of the baby in Phagwara too have been tested. Their reports are awaited and they are in home quarantine.
Meanwhile, all 102 Sri Lankan students studying at the LPU, Phagwara, were sent to their native country in a special plane of Sri Lankan Airlines from Amritsar today, said Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Deepti Uppal. LPU international affairs in-charge Aman Mittal said the students were sent to Amritsar in special buses of the LPU.
PGI Doctors test negative
All patients’ contacts, family members and healthcare workers reported negative for Covid and have been quarantined. As many as 54 healthcare workers at the PGI Advanced Paediatrics Centre — 18 doctors, 15 nursing officers, 13 hospital attendant/sanitation attendant, two physiotherapist and six technicians — were exposed to the virus while treating the baby girl.
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