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Indian student with kidney disorder airlifted from Melbourne, family thanks govt
Arshdeep Singh was diagnosed with chronic renal failure at a hospital in Melbourne last month. The Covid-19 restrictions made it difficult for the family to obtain visa. Then the governments of both the countries stepped in and the 25-year-old finally made it home.
In a humanitarian gesture, the Indian and Australian governments facilitated the repatriation of 25-year-old Arshdeep Singh, who is suffering from chronic renal failure, on Monday. Singh moved to Australia from India in 2018 for higher education.
He landed at Delhi airport on Monday evening and taken to Gurugram's Medanta hospital. Flight no 111 from Darwin, used to airlift Singh, was operated by Qantas.
"I would like to thank Indian and Australian governments for bringing me back to my home country safely," Arshdeep told news agency ANI after landing at Delhi airport.
The members of his family thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and minister of external affairs S Jaishankar for their efforts.
"I'm speechless, I want to thank the Indian government, Prime Minister Modi, the Australian government, Australian doctors who started the dialysis treatment. Almighty's grace was there. I'm thankful to all those who helped bring my child to me," Singh's mother Inderjeet Kaur was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Singh, who was studying in Melbourne, went to a local hospital on June 8 after which the family got to know that there was a renal failure, and his kidneys were not functioning, said Sikh leader Manjit Singh GK.
"His heart is only 20 per cent with an ejection fraction. The family were in a state of shock and we have no place to go because there was Covid going on. Hospital also suggested an organ transplant. This is a very serious case," he added.
The video shared by Manjit Singh GK shows Arshdeep travelling alone in the flight along with his medical equipment.
"Our government was kind enough to approach the Australian Government, the mother was given a visa on June 17th, but there were no flights operating. Arshdeep's condition was deteriorating every day. Then we requested the Australian government to send Arshdeep back to India so that he can get the treatment," he said.
