Kerala: Two Young COVID Volunteers Lauded For Saving Patient's Life In Alappuzha

Recently, a photograph of a COVID-19 patient seated between two people in PPEs on a bike went viral on social and electronic media. The image outraged many in Kerala on Friday, May 7. Several people opined that the photo was a depiction of the state's crippling healthcare system within few days of the second wave of the COVID pandemic. However, later on, when the two young individuals in the photo were identified, it became a testimony of their heroic act of saving a life, reported The Indian Express.

The photo was from the Alappuzha district where Ashwin Kunjumon and Rekha P Mol, who had joined as COVID-19 volunteers at a quarantine facility, had been speeding the coronavirus patients to a hospital after he was experiencing severe difficulty in breathing. Ashwin and Rekha worked as volunteers at a domiciliary care center – a facility for COVID patients who do not have a room quarantine facility at their homes – at Punnapra North panchayat in Alappuzha.

"We had been given the responsibility to deliver breakfast to the patients. As we needed too close to them to give food, we were wearing PPEs," said 22-year-old Ashwin, who joined as a volunteer in April. "Suddenly, one individual came to us and said that a patient was experiencing shortness of breath. The affected person was on the third floor of the building. Both of us rushed to him. His condition was severe. We tried to call for an ambulance, but nothing was available at that moment."

With the patient's condition getting even more critical, Ashwin said that they had very little time.

They decided to take the affected person to the hospital on a two-wheeler parked in the center. "There was no one to accompany the affected person as all inmates have COVID. So, I sat behind the patient on the bike and we rushed him to the hospital100 meters away," said Rekha, 23. "We are proud that we could save a life due to our timely action. Had we waited till the ambulance arrived, the worst could have happened."

After their story was out, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also praised the two youth who are also the workers of DYFI, the youth wing of the ruling CPI (M).