Father's Day Special: A daughter's fight for her father's life

 

Chandigarh (By Khushboo Yadav): The Covid-19 pandemic has created a huge distress in the whole world. Day after day we read about the number of deaths happening in the country. But the depth of this situation can only be understood by one when they face a similar situation. I never really understood the pain that this deadly virus was causing to people. But the past 50 days showed me the devastation of families going through this pandemic. I went through similar tension, pain and panic when my father got hospitalized for getting infected by this virus in the second wave.

This Father's Day (20 June 2021) is the most special one for me. My father has always taught me to be a strong, brave and independent girl. The past 50 days have been like a nightmare for our family. My Dad (Narvijay Yadav) was hospitalized due to Covid infection. Little did we know the severity of danger that he was in. His lungs were 90% infected.

After spending 16 days in three different ICU’s and a total of 46 days in hospital, he is now recovering at home. The doctors say that complete recovery may take 2-3 months or more. For a pampered single child like me, this shock was too big to handle. But as my Dad has taught me to face any situation strongly, I spent my days and nights all alone in the hospital. From running around one block to another to sleepless nights, this bad phase has taught me a lot of things about life.

Thanks to the doctors

We are thankful to Lord Shiva and the excellent team of doctors of Government Medical College & Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Chandigarh, who have given my Daddy a new life. My special gratitude to Dr Sanjeev Palta (Head, ICU), Dr Deepak, Dr Dheeraj, Dr Richa and Dr Surabhi for giving the best possible treatment to my father. The hospital staff was very cooperative. I am also grateful to Dr Vinnie, Dr Harsh, Dr Sakshi, Dr Rajni and all other doctors and nurses whom I did not know personally because of the safety kit they were wearing.

The Horrific moments

The moments in hospital were so terrifying for me to witness. As I would see a number of two to three dead bodies coming out everyday from the same ward where my father was in. It was heart wrenching to watch the family members of the deceased cry. And the panic in the waiting room was too much to handle during these painful moments. Yet I tried to keep my mental composure.

My father was on NIV (Non Invasive Ventilation) support, also known as BiPAP, for a few days. BiPAP is used as breathing support delivered via a facemask for those in respiratory failure which has not responded to medical management. Gradually various types of masks were administered and now he is using nasal prongs which are used to supply bare minimum amount of oxygen to the lungs. Currently at home we are using an oxygen concentrator and an oxygen cylinder for backup. 

Khushboo Yadav is Head - Operations, SpecttrumPR and an aspiring performing artist. Her father Narvijay Yadav is a senior journalist and Founder Director of SpecttrumPR.