Unsung heroes keep up the fight against pandemic
LUCKNOW : They are on a mission to rush Covid-19 patients to hospitals so that those in distress can get medical care in time. Such is their task that several of them have not met their family members for weeks. Indeed, the second Covid-19 wave sweeping the country is testing the resilience of essential services providers like never before.
Santosh Pandey, a pilot (driver) of an advanced life support system ambulance in Bahraich district, is one such unsung hero who is making an enormous personal sacrifice in the fight against the pandemic.
He says he has not met his wife and children in the last oneand-a-half months. During this time, he has transported more than 3,000 patients from Bahraich to hospitals in Barabanki and Lucknow.
“I don’t know whether I will be able to see my kids and parents again,” says Pandey.
His wife Archana Pandey, 39, says Santosh is a hero for the entire family.
“I have seen my husband only on WhatsApp video calls for the last one-and-a-half months and my kids miss him. Santosh may be an ambulance driver for everyone, but for my daughter Astha, 12, he is a hero who is not even afraid of corona and helping others at a time when people are hiding themselves.”
His 14-year-old son Anshuman says he misses Santosh, especially during dinner time.
Santosh’s daughter Astha “wants to become like papa”.
Santosh says, “Sometimes, my technician Krishna Kumar and I face hostile behaviour from the attendants of patients. But we know they are under stress and overlook their misbehaviour.”
Anand Rathore, technician with a life support ambulance in Lucknow, says, “I have transported over 4,500 Covid-19 patients during the last one-andhalf months.”
“I stay back in my office with other colleagues. My brother occasionally visits me, but we meet from a distance. I don’t want to put my family at risk of Covid-19,” he says.
“We have lost over 12 colleagues in the last one year due to Covid-19 and over 150 have been infected while transporting patients,” Rathore says.
Indrajeet Singh, in charge of the Covid Command Centre (Ambulances) in Lucknow, says the sacrifices made by men like Santosh and Anand often go unnoticed.