Good Samaritans step up to help patients left in lurch

KOLKATA: A middle-aged painter, a Bally resident who has been out of work for four months, stepped up to take his Covid-positive neighbour to the hospital when everyone else in the neighbourhood distanced themselves from him out of infection fear.


The patient’s wife had to plead with several relatives and friends for help but none came to their help when nextdoor neighbour Ratan Chanda stepped in.

“Had Ratan-da not been there, I fear I would have died. I was in such a bad shape that I was not being able to get up from my bed. Repeated calls to friends and family members to take me to a hospital yielded no result. But then, Ratan-da came to my house, took me to a testing centre, got me tested and when the report came the next day, he took me to a hospital in Kolkata and got me admitted,” said Soumya Kanti Ghosh (38), an electrical engineer and a resident of Bally in Howrah .

Ghosh had Covid symptoms since early July but by July 3, his condition deteriorated and he started calling people for help. “I didn’t know initially that he was sick. But then, a local youth told me to stay away from the family since Ghosh had all the symptoms. I was shocked and realized they were in need of help. So I rushed there and saw his condition,” said Chanda (52), who is known in the neighbourhood as a good Samaritan.

“When the report came, I hired a car without telling the driver that I will be transporting a Covid patient and took him to the hospital all by myself and got him admitted. When I came back, my family members and others questioned me the reason for going to such a length as the disease is highly contagious. But I assured them that I myself would also stay in home quarantine for two weeks. I did so and got myself tested but I tested negative,” said Chanda, who has told everyone in the neighbourhood to call him for help in case they fall sick and need hospitalisation.

Chanda is not the only one who has stepped up in this hour of crisis. Several others in Covid-affected zones like Bhowanipore, Haridevpur and Tollygunge have also come forward to help Covid patients. “While my husband and I are in home isolation after testing positive, our neighbour Pratik Chakraborty, a school teacher, escorted my father-in-law and got him admitted to a hospital after he had developed breathing trouble and chest infection,” said a Bansdroni resident.

Behala resident Tanima Mondal, too, spoke of a similar experience when a Facebook friend volunteered to get all essentials, including medicines, a table fan and even a spare bed to her home, when all three family members developed Covid symptoms last week.