For UP family, lockdown proves a blessing in disguise

Sadanand, a migrant worker, had started off on a bicycle from Punjab's Patiala along with his wife and two children for his native place in Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar amid the coronavirus lockdown on April 29.

But he had to halt his journey in Haryana's Ambala on the same day as his three-year-old son developed some health complications.

Sadanand approached police on the Haryana-Punjab border for medical assistance, which took the child to Ambala Chief Medical Officer Dr Kuldeep Singh.

Later, doctors found that the child had a hole in his heart.

Now, Sadanand considers himself fortunate that his son's ailment was detected before he reached his village in Uttar Pradesh.

I consider myself lucky that I was stranded during the lockdown and it came as a blessing in disguise, he says.

Initially, the child was sent to a private hospital in Punjab.

Sadanand did not have enough money, so he came back to Ambala as he was told that the treatment was expensive.

The child was then admitted to the Mission Hospital, Ambala City, for further medical investigation and treatment.

Hospital director Dr Sunil Sadik said after several tests, they reached a conclusion that the child required an immediate surgery.

The hospital has been providing free lodging and meal to the family for the past one week.

Ambala City MLA Aseem Goel, who had come to the hospital to inaugurate a blood donation camp, announced to contribute Rs 31,000 for the child's treatment on behalf of his NGO.

He assured to arrange the rest of the amount as the cost of treatment was estimated to be Rs 3.5 lakh.

In the meantime, the Rotary Club, Ambala, came forward and announced to bear a major portion of the cost.

The child will be taken to a private hospital in Panchkula on Monday, where he will be operated upon.

Sadanand says if he had returned to his native village, no such financial assistance would have been immediately possible and the child's life could have been in danger.