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Covid patient needs ₹1.5 lakh daily for treatment; family, friends expresses concern
The biggest challenge that lies ahead of the Singha household is to manage ₹40 lakh they will have to pay for the next 30 days of life support on the ECMO machine.
A family in Kolkata continues to feel the financial and emotional burden of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as one of its younger members remains on life support. To keep 30-year-old Jitpal Singha alive, they have had to pay ₹1.5 lakh every day for the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation or ECMO machine for the last one month, according to NDTV. Doctors have said that Singha needs to remain on the machine, which pumps and oxygenates his blood outside the body so that his heart and lungs can rest, for another 30 days.
But his family is concerned about funds drying up. His mother, Alpana Singha, said that when she last met her son he showed her a victory sign. She said that her son keeps asking about returning home. "He can't speak as he has all these pipes in his throat. But as I was leaving, he indicated I should take a photo of him," she told NDTV.
The report said that his father has been unable to face the problems presented due to his son’s hospitalisation and has been visiting an ashram to cope up.
Jitpal Singha’s cousin Debanjan Burman along with his friends is racing against time to secure the funds for his treatment. Jitpal's friends have chipped in generously to ensure his recovery and raised nearly ₹40 lakh. But now Burman said he worried because they will not be left with any money within 10 days.
Nitish Vyas, a childhood friend of Jitpal, has also started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his treatment but points out the difficulties. "No family is prepared for this. It's a difficult scenario, an impossible scenario we are in, but we are not giving up," he said.
