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.
Special thanks to Tape A Tale for the footage.
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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