After fighting for nearly a month and defeating Covid-19, a 103-year-old man walked home to cheers and tears of joy in the Thane district on Monday.
As Sukha Singh Chhabra was wheeled out of the Kaushalya Medical Foundation Trust Hospital in Thane, he got a warm round of applause also when he got home at his bungalow in Khopat locality of Thane.
He nodded and thanked the hospital.
He is perhaps the oldest Covid-19 survivor in India.
But for nearly a month, the senior Lahore-born Sukha Singh's family was practically on tenterhooks.
His first throat swab was taken on 31 May and was admitted at the Kaushalya Medical Foundation Trust Hospital, Thane on 2 June after being tested positive for Covid-19.
“He had a very tricky uphill and downhill course. Twice in and out of the ICU, requiring NIV (Non-Invasive Ventilation) and inotropic supports to maintain his heart and lung functions for moderate ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) along with COVID Pneumonia,” said Dr. Amit Lala Khomane, Chief Intensivist & Head, Department of Critical Care Medicine at Kaushalya Hospital, while sharing his experience on the road to recovery of Sukha Singh Chabbra.
The special team of Dr. Amit Lala Khomane with Dr. Jayprakash Pednekar and Dr. Santosh Dwivedi treating Sukha Singh Chabbra, believe that patient’s own determination to fight it out at this age is very important.
The team asserts “as doctors, we leave no stone unturned to help our patients win this battle.”
To commemorate this miraculous recovery, the Trustees, Dr. Amol Bhanushali, and Dr. Sameep Sohoni of Kaushalya Medical Foundation Hospital along with the hospital management decided to sponsor this entire course of treatment for Sukha Singh Chabbra.
His younger brother aged 86 years, was also in the ICU and has been shifted to the ward now. He awaits his discharge post clinical recovery.
Sukha Singh's grandson Gurdeep Singh Chhabra said that his grandfather is a bit weak. "He will bounce back, we are sure," he said.