2 Guj docs return to duty hours after cremating moms

2 Guj docs return to duty hours after cremating moms

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Vadodara:18.04.2021

Within a few hours of the demise of their mothers, two Gujarat doctors returned to the business of saving lives. One of them said her mother had said there was no greater duty they could perform.

At 3.30 am on Thursday morning, her mother passed away in the Covid ICU after a week’s battle with the virus. Six hours later, Dr Shilpa Patel, an associate professor with the anatomy department at the state-run SSG Hospital, was back in the saddle trying to save lives.

After carrying out the last rites of her 77-year-old mother, Kanta Ambalal Patel, Dr Patel diligently donned her PPE suit once again, staying true to her mother’s words: duty before everything else. Dr Rahul Parmar, too, lost his mother, Kanta Parmar  (67), who passed away from age-related issues in Gandhinagar on Thursday.

But Parmar, who as nodal officer for Covid management and part of the dead body disposal team at central Gujarat’s biggest hospital, finished the cremation rituals and rushed back to join duty on Friday. “It was a natural death. I finished the cremation rituals with my family and returned to Vadodara,” said Parmar, who is with Preventive and Social Medicine Department at SSG.

The officer on special duty for Covid-19 in Vadodara, Dr Vinod Rao, said the Covid warriors displayed great personal commitment and devotion to duty.