Icons Of Humanity: Left Penniless Amid COVID Crisis, Migrant Wagers Donate Plasma To Save Lives

Daily wagers and migrant workers were among the most vulnerable and the worst affected after the coronavirus pandemic crisis hit the country. Left jobless and saving dried up, they were forced to leave cities and get back to their hometowns.

However, even after facing such acute adversities, many migrant labourers are still doing the most they can to help in the fight against COVID-19.

Fifty six-year-old Kapil Singh lost his job when in the textile market pushing him into abject poverty and was later infected by the virus. However, his spirit was not shaken.

However, Singh, a migrant labour from Bihar who is living in Surat, recovered and even during his struggle, he helped others fighting COVID by donating plasma.

AFP

A doctor at IHBT, SMIMER told TOI that Singh did not have any money to pay for a rickshaw ride and the hospital bore the costs.

Singh is just one among the many jobless and penniless migrant workers in Surat who have become the icons of humanity through their deeds.

Doctors said they have received plasma from migrant workers, daily wagers, security guards, ambulance drivers, among many others earning paltry salaries but rich in gratitude.

¡°I was working as a labourer in a textile market, but lost my job. I am fortunate to have recovered from COVID, so I thought the least I could do is to donate plasma for others,¡± Singh told TOI.

Doctors were overwhelmed when a 52-year-old power-loom worker from Odisha, Bipin Mahapatra, too walked in to donate his plasma.

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His wife encouraged him to donate plasma. She wanted to donate as well but she is a mother of a young child and as per the guidelines, she can't donate.

State governments across the country are encouraging people to donate plasma.

Convalescent plasma therapy involves transfusion of specific components from the blood of people recovered from COVID-19 -- at least 14 days after their complete recovery -- into those who have contracted the disease virus or are in the high-risk category.

Plasma is the almost-clear liquid left behind after red and white blood cells and platelets are removed from the blood.