Mumbai: A 31-year-old man sold his SUV to buy oxygen cylinders for coronavirus patients. Shahnawaz Shaikh, from Malad, was using his Ford Endeavour as a makeshift ambulance amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
His business partner's sister, who was six months pregnant, died on May 28 due to COVID-19 in an autorickshaw outside a hospital after being turned away from five others.
“[The woman’s husband] took her to five hospitals but none was willing to admit her. Some said they didn't have vacant beds for people with COVID-10 symptoms. Others didn't have ventilators. She died in an autorickshaw outside the sixth hospital," Shaikh told Mumbai Mirror.
When he narrated the incident to some of his friends who are doctors, he was told that she could have been saved if she had received oxygen in time. That's when he decided to sell his SUV and buy oxygen cylinders.
"A friend of mine helped me contact a manufacturer directly. They were touched when I told them I wanted to buy cylinders and give them away for free. They were very helpful after that," he said.
Shaikh began distributing the cylinders to coronavirus patients on June 5 for free. He has helped 250 families. "There are just two simple things we ask from people calling to say they need oxygen cylinders - one, a doctor’s recommendation and two, that they come pick it up themselves," he added.
In cases where entire families are in quarantine, a team of volunteers helps deliver the oxygen cylinders. The relatives are given a crash course on how to use the cylinders. Dr Sabauddin Shaikh of Care Hospital helped him make a video to demonstrate the use of cylinders.
Shaikh advises families to consult a doctor on the oxygen pressure required by the patient.
"It's not hard to give up one car to save someone's life. Even if I'm blessed by just one grateful family for this deed, I will be able to buy four such cars someday" he said.
Netizens praised Shaikh for his benevolent gesture. One user said, "An act of kindness that’ll surely go a long way." Yet another wrote, "Salute to living angel."