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Mohali: Covid patient declared dead, alive and then dead again
An emotional roller-coaster ride later, the family is now making arrangements for the cremation to be held on Sunday morning.
A miscommunication from a private hospital sent a Mohali family on an emotional rollercoaster ride on Saturday.
It was around 7:30am that Sukhleen Singh Dhillon, a property consultant, received a phone call from Grecian Hospital in Sector 69 to inform him about his father’s death.
His father, Ranbir Singh Dhillon, 70, a former president of the Phase 5 market association and also the truck union in Mohali, had been hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19.
After informing their near and dear ones about the demise and making arrangements for the cremation, which was scheduled at 2pm, when the family reached the hospital to claim the elderly man’s body, something unusual happened. “At the time of clearing the dues, to our surprise, we were told that my father is alive and on ventilator,” said Sukhleen.
However, when Sukhleen demanded to talk to the hospital management about this error, he was allegedly stopped by bouncers deployed there. This also led to a high drama near the hospital entrance in the afternoon.
However, relieved that his father was still alive, he sent another message to all the near and dear ones, informing them about the development and asking them to pray for his speedy recovery.
This relief was short-lived, as around 6pm, the family reportedly again received a message about Dhillon’s demise.
The death has not yet been added to the district’s official Covid tally and there has been no independent confirmation from the hospital.
However, earlier, talking about the error committed in the morning, its owner Dr Shivpreet Samra said: “It was a miscommunication on the staff’s part. We have issued a warning to the erring employee and directed all to be more careful. The staff is under tremendous stress these days.”
The family, meanwhile, is making arrangements for the cremation to be held on Sunday morning.
