JJ Hospital alumni to contribute towards victim’s treatment

Eighteen-year-old medical aspirant Taniya Kamble was among the people injured due to a fire that engulfed a commercial complex in Ghatkopar (East) on December 17.

Mumbai: Alumni from the 2001 batch of Grant Medical College, affiliated with JJ Hospital, has decided to contribute towards the medical treatment of eighteen-year-old medical aspirant Taniya Kamble, who is currently admitted to National Burns Centre (NBC), Airoli.

(HT PHOTO)

Kamble was among the people injured due to a fire that engulfed a commercial complex in Ghatkopar (East) on December 17.

Physician Dr Amit Kumar Nohwar had read the HT report which spoke about her crowdfunding and felt like doing something for her family. He reached out to NBC director Dr Sunil Keswani to ask about Kamble’s health conditions. He also spoke to her father Sanjay Kamble who told him that the daily bills of the hospital are at least ₹40,000, other than the medicines.

“I also read that the father had to run around looking for some government facility which they didn’t get. It felt very wrong that people need to depend on philanthropy just to keep someone alive,” he said.

Dr Nohwar’s batchmates from his college have been discussing a reunion as they completed twenty years of getting their MBBS degrees.

When he brought up the idea of helping the Kamble family to pay the hospital bills as a part of their virtual reunion, many of his batchmates agreed. “Even if we contribute ₹1,000 each, our batch consisting of 200 doctors, 129 of whom are on the WhatsApp group where this conversation took place, we would be able to make a significant contribution in their lives,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kamble is responding well to the treatment. She is no longer on the ventilator.

Her father, Sanjay Kamble, is grateful for all the people who have come forward to help them. “However, when we asked the administration at Kalra Shukla classes if they could help in any way, they refused. Later, they told me they could pay for the ambulance, which I refused. They have not even called to ask about her health,” he said.

Kamble incurred burn injuries on her face and hands, covering 18% of her body. Her family has started a crowdfunding campaign to gather funds for her treatment as the hospital had given them an estimated cost of treatment upwards of ₹10 lakh, which HT had reported on December 28.