Singh family prays daily for daughter’s safety
It’s almost a month since Pratika Singh returned home from work. She is a staff nurse, who is among front liners, in the battle against the deadly COVID-19.
Her Wailoaloa family of Nadi can only ask all Fijians to include her in their daily prayers and others like her.
Her father Kedar Singh, 80, a former construction foreman, mother Maya Wati, 57, and brother Sailesh Singh, 34, applauded Ms Singh’s role – labelling front liners ‘a beacon of hope.’
Ms Singh, 33, has not returned home since March 20 when she got enlisted to be part of the COVID-19 team based at the Isolation Centre at Nadi Hospital.
She is the third eldest of five siblings.
“I am very proud of her and her profession when we are all fighting this virus, she is a beacon of hope,” her father said.
“As parents we accept this challenge to happen. We normally talk to each other digitally from time to time. What we hear is that she is fine. We are content to hear that from her.”
As Mr Singh could recall, it was his daughter’s ultimate dream to take up a nursing career.
“She applied twice to study nursing, the first year she did not get it. She went on and worked as an office girl for about a year until the next year. She was then accepted,”Mr Singh said.
“It is her love for the profession and we continue to support her as a family.”
Mr Singh can only pray for her safe return home after the pandemic.
Supporting parents
On the day of the staff nurse’s departure, her older brother, Sailesh Singh, a teacher in Ba, wanted to be with his parents at the earliest to comfort them.
“My family and I live at Ba, and when we heard that my sister was part of those front liners during this pandemic, I wanted to be with my parents as soon as possible. This was a big challenge as Lautoka City was marked a confined area and we could not cross. So we waited for that period,” he said.
“These are hard times. We need to stay strong together and support each other. My parents needed someone to talk to all the time.” Ms Singh attended Sangam Sadhu Kuppuswamy Memorial College (SSKMC). She has been a registered nurse since 2010 and her first posting was at Taveuni Hospital.
She was transferred to Ba Mission Hospital where she served from 2011 to 2018.
Last year she joined the Nadi Hospital Emergency department.