E-Paper
Najafgarh accident: The oldest victim Covid survivor, youngest speech and hearing impaired
New Delhi: Ninety-three-year-old Rao Jawahar Singh, who was among the five killed in Friday morning’s road mishap in Najafgarh, had recovered from Covid-19 without even getting admitted to any hospital
New Delhi: Ninety-three-year-old Rao Jawahar Singh, who was among the five killed in Friday morning’s road mishap in Najafgarh, had recovered from Covid-19 without even getting admitted to any hospital. Despite having Covid-19 symptoms such as high-fever, body ache and cough, Singh defeated the virus in home isolation. He had caught the infection in mid April when Delhi was under the fourth wave of the infection.
Local residents as well as his family members remember Singh as a “health-conscious person” and said that his daily 5-7 kilometer walk and two-hour Yoga as a reason why
He could defeat the virus at the age of 93 while on home isolation. Locals said same daily fitness routine that started with a morning walk resulted in him getting run over by a truck on Friday.
“Everyone in our neighbourhood knew dadajee (Singh) because he was conscious about his health and fitness and motivated others for including Yoga and physical work in their daily life. While hundreds of young people lost their lives due to the virus, his Covid-19 survival story was an inspiration for many of us,” said Kapil Jhangra, a local resident.
Singh’s grandson, Rakesh Yadav, said that he was sleeping when his grandfather left home at around 4.45 am for a morning walk. He had just walked about 50 metres on the road when an allegedly speeding tipper truck crushed him and four members of a family under its wheels at 4.51 am.
“A neighbor told me about the mishap. My grandfather had died by the time I rushed to the nearby hospital, where he was admitted by some locals,” said Yadav, adding that Singh became Covid-19 positive within a week after he took the first dose of Covid vaccine on April 12.
Yadav said that his grandfather was aware of all the Covid-19 guidelines and he isolated himself in a room and started medication, soon after he got fever and cough.
“The symptoms were not severe. We consulted a doctor in Akash hospital and my grandfather followed his medical advices and medication. He continued his Yoga and other exercises in home isolation as well. My grandfather defeated the virus because of his will power and fitness,” said Yadav.
Singh’s younger brother, Kripa Ram,82, also remembered him as a disciplined and self-motivated person. “I have been a wrestler all my life but could not maintain the fitness routine like my brother. He looked healthier than me, although I was more than 10 years younger to him,” said Ram, who is famous as “pehalwan dada” in the neighbourhood.
Two-and-half-year-old Dev Rajoura, who was the youngest among the five killed in Friday morning’s road mishap outside his home in Najafgarh, was speech and hearing impaired since birth. But since his family’s financial condition was poor and his parents were not able to afford the costly medical treatment, they were hoping that a miracle from the “divine powers” would cure Dev. And it was because of that reason that they had planned a shrine visit to a few holy places, including Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu, said relatives of the four dead family members.
Apart from Dev, his parents – Ashok Rajoura and Kiran Rajoura – and brother Istant Rajoura,5, were killed in the road mishap, just outside their Najafgarh home. They were walking towards Chhawla bus stand to board a bus to Gurugram, where they had to visit Sheetla Mata temple, first among the many holy places they had planned to visit hoping it would help Dev.
They (Kiran and Ashok) had been planning the Gururgam temple’s visit for nearly two months, after someone in her (Kiran’s) parental neighbourhood told them that Dev could be cured if they visited Vishno Devi and other famous temples, said Pooja, wife of Ashok’s brother Manoj.
“I had been advising them against it because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But today, they left without informing us. I would have stopped them, had I known about their trip. They would have alive,” said Pooja, sobbing on the floor with other relatives.
As Ashok left behind a joint family that is facing financial crisis, his relatives sought the government’s help in providing some relief to the family either through some financial assistance or a job to the eligible one.
