These Unsung Heroes Are Working Day And Night To Help Us Battle The COVID Crisis
It is said there is not a bigger joy than helping others in distressed times. Whether the times are good or bad, there is someone out there trying to help those in need. And, even during such testing times, stories emerged where some were hailed as heroes, warriors and even saviours.?
Here's a list of the people who is making the world a better place as it is reeling under a deadly second wave.
1.?Dattatraya Sawant
Like thousands of good samaritans, working round the clock to provide help to people in need,?Dattatraya Sawant, a Mumbai-based school teacher, has converted his autorickshaw into a mobile ambulance to help COVID patients reach the hospital for free.
He wears PPE kits and sanitises the vehicle.
"For this, I personally take all precautionary measures. At present, the number of corona patients is increasing rapidly. Many of them are dying due to untimely treatment. In such a situation, whether the poor patients get government help in time or not, private ambulances are not affordable. And often public vehicles do not provide services to Covid patients. In such cases, my free service will be available to the patients," he told news agency?ANI.
"I drop off Covid patients to Care Centres and hospitals for free, and also bring discharged patients to their respective homes," he added.
2. Faizul
A resident of Prayagraj, Faizul drives an ambulance. He says his hearse van is his life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he leaves his home everyday without any hope of returning as there are a lot of people in the city who need immediate help. He does that with exemplary dedication.
For 15 years, he picked up dead bodies on a trolley, then he bought a hearse, and with the help of an NGO he has got all the necessary documents to do his job. Faizul calls it his life.
He carries dead bodies on his trolley and never demand even a single penny from anyone. He accepts whatever people offer him as a gesture to express appreciation. His area of worked stretch up to 50 kilometres and 14 police stations from where he carry the unclaimed bodies for the last rites.
3. Shahnawaz Sheikh??
With an increased shortage of medical oxygen, hospital beds and the anti-viral drug Remdesivir used in the treatment of coronavirus, the healthcare system is barely able to cope up with the rising caseload.
At such a time, good samaritans are keeping the morale high as they are selflessly working to ensure they provide assistance in any way they could. Some are going out of their way to make a difference and that stands right for Mumbai¡¯s Shahnawaz Sheikh.
Known as the 'Oxygen Man' in his locality of Malad, he has been working tirelessly to help make the supply of oxygen available to patients through just a phone call. Working with a team, Shahnawaz has also set up a ¡®control room¡¯ to streamline the efforts, India.com reported.
Shahnawaz was also in the news last year after he sold his SUV to start an oxygen supply scheme which today continues to save lives amid the coronavirus pandemic.?This year, he and his team have set up a control room in order to coordinate and communicate effectively with those in need of help.
Amid the crisis, the demand for the supply of oxygen cylinders has increased manifolds. While 3 months back, he was answering 50 calls for oxygen daily, now it has shot up to 500-600 calls every day, the report said.
4.?Rajendra Bharud
Last year Nandurbar, a tribal district in Maharashtra, did not have a single liquid oxygen plant or tank.But after the first wave of the pandemic Nandurbar collector, Dr Rajendra Bharud took the initiative to set up oxygen plants when no one knew that thousands of Indians will die of oxygen shortage.
The first such plant was set up at the district hospital, followed by two more plants in the district, with a combined production capacity of 2,400 litres per minute. As a doctor by qualification, but IAS officer by profession, he knew that there will be a second wave of COVID and even districts like Nandurbar which were spared in the first wave could be affected.
¡°In the wake of the pandemic, there were 190 patients in the district. I realised , there was a possibility that cases could once again rise and that we should have an oxygen plant in place. So, we set up a plant with a capacity of 600 litre per minute,¡± he told The Times of India.?
5.?Mayur Shelke
Recently, a railway employee saved a child's life who had fallen over the platform. The child was accompanied by his visually impaired mother whose wails alerted the pointsman who wasted no time in getting to the scene and picking up the child and saving his life.
The incident took place at Vangani railway station in Vangani, Maharashtra. It is about 100 km from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.The incident was captured on CCTV at the station. The Udyan Express was speeding when railway employee Mayur Shelke was alerted by the cries of a woman standing on the platform.
Shelke's job is to check railway signals. He noticed that the woman's six-year-old son had slipped onto the railway tracks below.Shelke received a standing ovation from his department for doing such a selfless deed.
Ministry of Railways announced an award of Rs 50,000 for him. Now, Shelke has said that he will give half of the reward money to the child's family for his welfare and education. He said that he discovered that the family is not financially sound and he would like to help them out.
6.?Pascal Saldhana
In a thoughtful gesture, a man in Mumbai has given the spare oxygen cylinder of his wife, who is on dialysis for last five years, for free.Pascal Saldhana, a 'mandal decorator', has intensified his Covid relief effort on his wife's insistence.
To start this heartening gesture, he sold his wife's jewellery and is now selflessly helping those in need.
"I have been doing this from 18th April. Sometimes people also give me money to help others." My wife is on dialysis and oxygen support. So we always have a spare cylinder," Pascal told ANI.? ??
"One day a school principal called me up for oxygen for her husband. I gave the spare one to her after my wife insisted. On her request, I sold her jewellery, got Rs 80,000 and started this, he said.
7. DSP Shilpa Sahu
On April 20, a video of the official working on busy streets and appealing to people to follow lockdown guidelines went viral on social media. In the clip, we can see the DSP working under the scorching summer sun and carrying out her duties with other police officials.
The video shows Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shilpa Sahu monitoring citizens who are moving around on the street and instructing them to go back home and follow all necessary safety protocols.
Sahu is posted in the Maoist affected town, Dantewada of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh.The pregnant officer is standing on the road regulating traffic with a lathi in her hand while wearing a protective face shield. The video shows her enquiring people where they are headed while also ensuring that everyone follows social distancing norms.
This video should be a lesson to those who are stepping out of their homes unnecessarily to make them realise that the frontline workers are putting their lives at risk every day for the safety of this nation during this pandemic's second wave.
8. Srikanth V
A doctor in Bengaluru has donated convalescent plasma for the ninth time.52-year-old Dr Srikanth V, a senior consultant plastic surgeon from Manipal Hospitals, was found COVID-positive in August last year.
Post recovery, he has been a regular plasma donor with the hospital's blood bank. While it is not clear how long COVID-recovered patient can donate plasma, the only criteria observed is the spike protein antibody levels detected prior to the donation, Times of India reported.
Convalescent plasma therapy or CPT involves transfusing blood from a recently recovered COVID-19 patient to another patient infected with the disease. Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies in their blood, which could help others fight off the infection.??
9. PRO Nitin Yadav
Another such good Samaritan is Nitin Yadav, PRO, media cell, Lucknow Police Commissionerate. Yadav is on his toes to help the poor and needy in these unprecedented times.Yadav is providing medical oxygen cylinders to the needy in Lucknow, which is one of the worst-affected cities by the coronavirus pandemic in Uttar Pradesh.
"A person tagged the Commissionerate on Twitter requesting for an oxygen cylinder. I looked it up and took all the necessary information. In the process, I learnt that 11 critical patients in a private hospital need oxygen urgently," he tells Indiatimes.
"I made all the efforts and helped them with oxygen cylinders," he says, adding that the hospital did not have any transportation facility and his team had to facilitate the transportation.After that incident, scores of people in need of oxygen cylinders reached out to Yadav through calls and social media.
"Some of them belonged to extremely poor families. They could have lost their lives, if they did not get the medical attention they needed. We helped them on personal expenses," Yadav tells.
10.?Javed Khan
In another example of thoughtfulness, an auto driver from Bhopal, has converted his vehicle into an ambulance that also provides oxygen.
According to a report in Times of India, Javed Khan, has been providing the service for free and in the last few days, he has come to the aid of 8-10 people. With the COVID-19 cases soaring, Javed was pained at seeing people in agony and couldn't sit at home and do nothing.
"I have been driving autos for 18 years. Though no one has been infected in my family, I was very disturbed by the rising death toll and wanted to do something about it with the resources I have," Javed told TOI.?
11.?Jitendra Devrari?
In order to lend a helping hand, Jitendra Devrari has put himself to work at Almora Medical College which is the only state-run testing centre.Devrari is the sole microbiologist among 21 doctors who have been recruited for the job.
With a team of four lab technicians, Devrari has been working without a single day off for almost six months now.Under the guidance of the principal of Almora Medical College, RG Nautiyal, the government COVID-19 testing facility was set up.
"I knew how crucial the responsibility was when I accepted the position. These days, the workload has increased. I am at the facility 24x7, testing samples day and night ¡ Sometimes, I forget to eat or just don¡¯t get the time to. But that is what is needed right now," said Devrari.?
12.?Zoeb Bhutia
Zoheb Bhutia from Sikkim is providing authentic momo to people who cannot afford to have a hearty meal due to the pandemic.?Zoeb, Founder, MO Square, says it all began as a personal ambition. He always wanted people to enjoy authentic momo and not the ones people end up ordering from the streets.
"So, I began a small operation, just home deliveries of momo. I, along with my business partner, Pema, started making them at home. We had the support of a few friends, family members, and so we just went with it", he recalls.
Everything was going fine until one day when he had gone to AIIMS area to distribute about 100 plates to the people who were stranded outside. The sight of the helpless people shook him to the core.
He knew he didn't have enough that night to feed them all so he went back again the next day with some more food making it a regular thing."There came a point when we stopped home delivering, and only concentrated on feeding the destitute", he said.?
13. Sandhya
Sandhya, the first and only graduate of Chinnampathy tribal village in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore, has stood up to fill the educational hole left by the COVID-induced lockdown, which has prompted schools to close.The BCom graduate is doing her part by offering free education to the kids in her area.
During the classes, Sandhya also teaches children folk dance and music.She informed that not many students were interested in joining schools during the lockdown. Now, some students are taking a keen interest in their studies.
Sandhya said, "Earlier, very few were interested but soon more children joined classes. They are now much more interested in learning."
Sandhya also briefed that she is the only graduate in her village as most of the children drop studies after a certain age. She noted, "I am the only graduate from the settlement. Most of the children here stop studies after completing elementary or middle school as the families cannot afford to send them to school."?
14. 70-year-old?Maniyan Pillai
Maniyan Pillai is 70 years old and he is from Vetturoad, Kazhakoottam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. For the last 2 decades, he has been feeding stray dogs and proved to be their ray of hope.
As per a report in The New Indian Express, he can be seen doing it every morning and evening without missing a day. He is always followed in his locality by a loyal pack of stray dogs.?The man himself is homeless and jobless and yet he provides food to these creatures like they were his own children.
¡°I have always been an animal lover and started feeding them regularly for the past two decades. If I come across a hungry stray I never hesitate to use my money to buy food for them. Earth is not owned by humans alone. Animals too are part of this world and humans should learn to coexist with them. I feed them first before I feed myself,¡± he said.
¡°After serving seven years in the military I don¡¯t get any financial aid or pension from the government. But it¡¯s okay because leaving the military was my decision and I never tried to get any benefits for serving in the military,¡± he added.
