This Family’s Covid Story Will Leave You In Tears

Brut India

Nausheen Khan faced her worst nightmare when she and her entire family tested positive for Covid-19. Watch her narrate the heartbreaking, inspiring story here. Special thanks to Tape A Tale for the footage.

Transcript

00:00There can be no greater pain than seeing your parents in the ambulance.

00:07All the pains of life so far are on one side, and that pain is on the other side.

00:12This was a tsunami.

00:14And just like a tsunami doesn't knock before it comes,

00:17the second wave of corona knocked on my house before it knocked on its destruction in Bhopal.

00:23My grandparents and I were positive.

00:26My grandparents were immediately sent to the hospital.

00:29Seeing my grandmother go to such a weak hospital,

00:32I thought for a moment whether she would be able to come back or not.

00:36Two days later, my parents and my sister were also positive,

00:39with very mild symptoms.

00:41An uncle's family and an aunt's family were also positive.

00:44Different people were admitted in different hospitals.

00:48I didn't even know when my father's mild symptoms took on a new form in a day or two.

00:54His oxygen level was continuously dropping.

00:57Somehow, a whole night passed.

01:00The next day, he was also sent to my grandparents' hospital.

01:04His parents didn't want him to get sick and get worried,

01:08so my father took a bed away from them.

01:11At this time, a good news came that my grandmother was discharged early.

01:16My grandmother had the first symptoms, and she was diabetic.

01:20The rest, no one, even my grandfather, had any health issues.

01:23I had a hope that now that my grandmother was back, everyone would come back.

01:27When my grandmother came back, she said to my grandfather,

01:30let's go.

01:31My grandfather said, yes, go. Take care. Allah Hafiz.

01:35In the happiness of my grandmother's return,

01:37I never thought that my grandfather and my father's health could deteriorate.

01:43But this cruel corona, along with the body,

01:46no matter how much it plays with things,

01:49my father's health was not improving.

01:52He was sent to the ICU from the ward,

01:54and now he needed a Tocilizumab injection.

01:57We found out that a chemist had the injection available,

02:01but he refused to give it.

02:03I don't know how many hours, where and how many calls it took,

02:07and from the same shop, the same injection,

02:09that faith-seeking person gave us.

02:14My father's health was still not improving,

02:16and he was sent to a big hospital in Ananfanan.

02:20There can be no greater pain than seeing your parents in the ambulance.

02:26All the pains of life so far are on one side,

02:29and that pain is on one side.

02:32That pain increased even more when my grandfather's health was not improving.

02:36His body had stopped taking food.

02:39He was on NIV. My father was also on NIV.

02:42NIV is a small ventilator,

02:44in which oxygen is given with a lot of pressure.

02:47The patient is conscious,

02:49but in a lot of trouble and pain.

02:52Both father and son were fighting for their lives in different places.

02:58The next day, I saw my father's report.

03:01He had a 60% lung infection.

03:04My hands trembled when I saw the report.

03:07My hands stopped trembling when my grandfather's doctor called.

03:12We had to move him to the ventilator.

03:15Please give your consent.

03:18Ventilator.

03:19These words move the soul.

03:22A son was living with my grandfather across the sea,

03:25and another son was living here, who was negative,

03:28and was taking care of us in every way.

03:30After taking his advice, we gave him our consent.

03:35Then another doctor called and said,

03:37I have to take his decision about the ventilator.

03:41I feel that if we do proning,

03:45which is a natural ventilator,

03:47in which the body is laid upside down,

03:50if his body is sustained for 2 hours,

03:53then we can delay the decision of the ventilator.

03:57Everyone's hope was again fulfilled.

04:00And really, my grandfather's body was sustained for 2 hours,

04:03despite a lot of pain.

04:06We had only heard that doctors earn money in the name of ventilators.

04:11This man of God, to save my grandfather's life,

04:15stopped that decision.

04:18We don't blame the health workers too much.

04:22One mistake defames us all.

04:25We used to wonder how they are trying to save him,

04:29when our own can't go to the hospital.

04:32Someone cleans his mess,

04:34someone serves him,

04:35someone tries to save him.

04:39In the meantime,

04:40as my father's health was not getting better,

04:42he had to be given plasma.

04:45I don't know how many unknown people

04:47tried to give him plasma.

04:50Someone had left their cancer-stricken mother,

04:53someone had left their children,

04:54someone had left their elders.

04:56And really,

04:57two angels' plasma was found for my father.

05:02There was a wave of happiness,

05:05when the doctor called again,

05:07that my grandfather's health is not getting better,

05:10and now he will have to be put on a ventilator.

05:14My grandfather might have become anxious,

05:16and he requested a nurse for a video call.

05:20We all talked to him on the video call.

05:23I had never seen a person in my life in so much pain.

05:28And in so much pain,

05:29in so much pain,

05:31the way he was saying,

05:32hello, I am a fighter.

05:35And when we were singing him a lullaby,

05:37that, grandfather,

05:39he started reminding us of the words

05:42he had forgotten with his breathing.

05:45Everyone knew that his hello might be goodbye.

05:49We will live, we will live, we have to live.

05:53The stubbornness of a 84-year-old man

05:56might be understood by our generation,

05:58who gives up on life one by one.

06:04My father's health was still not improving,

06:07and now his lung infection had reached 90%.

06:11My mother's health was also deteriorating.

06:14She needed a hospital,

06:15but there was no bed in the hospital.

06:18I had heard that my uncle was also unwell.

06:23There was a little news of his recovery,

06:26and when I came, there was another news.

06:30Grandfather had left us.

06:33The doctors said that

06:34this news should not be told to anyone,

06:37to uncle, dad and grandma,

06:40because they are also afraid of getting a heart attack from this trauma.

06:43So everyone cried secretly and prayed a lot.

06:46Grandfather's funeral could not come home.

06:49Uncle and a few other people

06:51gave him their blessings.

06:53It is said that elders take away everyone's blessings.

06:57Indeed, after grandfather's death,

07:00everyone's health was slowly improving,

07:02even my father's.

07:04Every member of the medical field says

07:06that my father's survival is a miracle.

07:09A week later, my father came home.

07:12He was informed.

07:14He said, he took my death,

07:17and cried a lot.

07:18The man who kept explaining the value of daughters to everyone all his life,

07:23even at the last moment,

07:25daughters-in-law and granddaughters took care of him.

07:28Despite having two sons in the city,

07:30they could not give him soil.

07:32It is said that

07:34those who die in the epidemic are considered martyrs.

07:37Corona is also an epidemic,

07:39and the funerals of the martyrs do not come home.

07:42We are all in a war right now.

07:45We just have to not lose hope and courage.

07:48For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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