Sukha Singh Chhabra at Kaushalya Medical Foundation Trust Hospital receiving A Warm Send -Off from the Hospital Upon Recovery
In a huge relief for his anxious family, a sprightly
103-year old Sikh man has vanquished the coronavirus and returned home to
savour the victory. Marvelling at Chhabra’s “miraculous recovery”, the KMFT
Trustees decided to waive off the treatment costs for Chhabra
Now ranked as India’s oldest ICU survivor of
Covid-19, Sukha Singh Chhabra of Thane was happily discharged
from Kaushalya Medical Foundation Trust Hospital (KMFT) this week.
Sukha Singh Chhabra with his Family
His younger brother, 86-year old Tara Singh who
was also infected, is awaiting discharge from the hospital in a couple of days.
For nearly a month, Chhabra’s entire family was
on tenterhooks although he remained largely unaware of the potentially deadly
infection that had afflicted him.
“We downplayed it and requested him to get
admitted to a hospital for proper care,” his 39-year grandson Gurdeep K.
Chhabra explained. “He agreed without any fuss, so we didn’t see any point in
unnecessarily alarming him at his advanced age.”
After his swabs tested positive, he was wheeled
into the KMFT Hospital on 2 June. His sons and grandchildren prayed, while his
young great-grandchildren waited for him to return home to play with them.
Chhabra’s month-long stay in hospital was mostly
lonely and without the hustle-bustle of his large family due to the Covid-19
protocols. Still, the senior Lahore (Pakistan)-born man
braved it remarkably well.
Sukha Singh Chabra With His Family and Hospital Staff
“He was twice in and out of the intensive care
unit, required non-invasive ventilation, inotropic supports to maintain his
heart and lung functions for moderate Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, along
with Covid Pneumonia,”. “He had a very tricky course, going uphill and coming
downhill.”.
Sukha Singh Chhabra with Team of Doctors
A special team of doctors was assigned to treat Chhabra
on the long road to recovery. However, they generously acknowledged that “it
was the patient’s own determination to fight out Covid-19 at this advanced age”
which was very important.“We as doctors left no stone unturned to keep him and
our other patients, to win this
battle,” said a doctor.
After he was accorded a warm send-off with a
resounding round of applause, the weary Chhabra returned to the comfort and
safety of his home.
“Before lockdown, he was very active as usual.
He even visited the Gurdwar, climbed the stairs independently, prayed, took
‘prasad’ at the langar and returned home,” said Gurmukh Singh.
Despite the recovery, Chhabra remains quite weak
and will be on an intravenous semi-liquid diet for the next few days at his
bungalow.
“We are confident that he will soon bounce back
to his active self after he starts savouring his favourite Punjabi vegetarian
dishes that he has missed for so many weeks now,” his grandson Gurdeep laughed.
https://www.sikhnet.com/news/103-year-old-sikh-man-thane-country%E2%80%99s-oldest-icu-survivor-covid-19