These Are The Stories Of Four Renowned Doctors That Delhi-NCR Lost To COVID-19 This Week

The COVID-19 surge continues to take a toll on the medical fraternity that has been on the frontline since March last year. Prominent doctors in Delhi and NCR -- Vivek Arora, Anubha Garg, Shekhar Agarwal and Anil Wahal have succumbed to the disease in the past week.

Dr Arora, aged 53, an anesthetist who died on Wednesday, had donated blood 70 times in his lifetime to help patients. “On April 21 he developed a fever and got a Covid test, but it came negative. Due to this, he thought there may be some other reason for the fever, but within a few days he developed breathlessness. He was then admitted to a hospital in Ghaziabad. However, his saturation kept slipping. He was shifted to a bigger hospital in Ghaziabad and put on a ventilator after developing pneumothorax, but he died. He had received both doses of the vaccine and had no comorbidities,” said Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) East Delhi secretary Radha Jain.

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"Donated blood 70 times in lifetime"

Arora leaves behind his wife and two sons. “He was a very lively person who donated blood 70 times in his lifetime. He never considered money a factor; he would just operate if someone needed it. He was very helpful. All his friends are distraught,” Jain said.

Dr P K Lakhani, an anaesthetist and friend of Arora’s, said he had started working once the first Covid test came negative. “He worked for 3-4 days after that. When he went to hospital for an emergency surgery, he developed some breathlessness and he returned home. He checked his oxygen saturation, which was lower than normal…He was a very honest man, full of professional integrity and never ran after money,” he said.

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"Died en route hospital"

41-year-old, a practicing gynaecologist, Dr Anubha Garg died of Covid on Wednesday. Jain said she was also a resident of Ghaziabad but had to be admitted in a hospital in Moradabad due to oxygen shortage in Delhi-NCR. “Her husband is also a doctor and she has two daughters. Her condition had been deteriorating there and she was to be shifted to Ghaziabad, but she died en route. She had been fully vaccinated,” she said.

“It has become so painful for us to issue daily condolence messages for doctors. Every day I have to issue these messages. It is important to remember that these doctors are exposed to high viral load because of the nature of their work. We know of many cases where vaccines have reduced the symptoms,” said Jain.

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"Never seen him turn away a patient"

Dr Shekhar Agarwal (68) was a renowned orthopaedic surgeon at Sant Parmanand Hospital and succumbed to Covid on Monday. Agarwal was a specialist in joint replacement. He completed his MBBS in 1975, and then did his master’s in orthopaedics also from MAMC.

Dr Vinay Agarwal, who knows him since 1971, said he almost worked like a "missionary".?

“After that he went to England for further training. He had the opportunity to settle there but he decided to come back. After working in some hospitals, he joined Sant Parmanand Hospital, which was at that time a charitable eye hospital. He transformed it into a state-of-the-art orthopaedic unit. I have never ever seen him turn away a patient due to financial reasons,” he said.

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“After being diagnosed with Covid, he was admitted in Parmanand but was later shifted to Medanta. However, it was his wish to die in his hospital, so he was shifted back to Parmanand finally, where he breathed his last. He had received both doses of the vaccine but he was asthmatic,” said Aggarwal.

"Had excellent clinical knowledge"

64-year-old Dr Anil Wahal, an anaesthetist at Hindu Rao Hospital, also lost his life Monday night.

“He had been working for almost two years. He tested positive on April 21 but was self-monitoring at home till April 30, when he was admitted in our hospital after his oxygen fell. He had received one dose of vaccine… He was hypertensive and had a mitral valve replacement,” said Dr Alka Chandra, HoD Anaesthesia.?

“He was a thorough gentleman, very sincere and humble. He had both excellent clinical knowledge as well as administrative knowledge,” she said. Wahal leaves behind his wife and two sons.

Meanwhile,?another prominent Dr KK Aggarwal of Delhi has been admitted in ICU after he got infected with COVID-19. In January 2021, Dr Aggarwal went viral after he was scolded by his wife for getting the Covid-19 vaccination alone, during a live session.