NRI couple who came for family time die of Covid
Yagnesh.Mehta@timesgroup.com
Surat:11.05.2021
“It would have been better had they not come to India. Despite trying for days, we did not get a hospital bed for my ‘mama’ (maternal uncle). We had to toil for hours to arrange oxygen cylinders for him. My ‘mama’ was on oxygen for over four days,” rues Piyush Bhatt, afinance consultant in Ahmedabad.
Bhatt is left lamenting as the septuagenarian NRI couple’s — Rashmikant Raval (73) and his wife Sushila (72) — died of Covid in span of two days last month. Raval, a retired hotel and catering business owner, passed away in Ahmedabad on April 23, while Sushila succumbed the next day.
“After making rounds of crematoriums, it was at the fourth one that I was able to perform the last rites of my uncle. I faced same problems while cremating my aunt,” Bhatt said. The US-based couple came to India in February spend some time with childhood friends and family after over a year of remaining locked in their house in Austin, Texas, due to global pandemic. The two had promised their grandchildren in the US that they will return soon.
The couple arrived in India on February 27 and did not take Covid-19 vaccine in the US. As the condition worsened in India they took the first dose of the vaccine in Ahmedabad on April 3 and 4. Sushila tested positive for Covid-19 on April 16 while Raval developed symptoms on April 19. But Raval tested negative in all three test he underwent.
For days Raval searched for a hospital bed for himself, but in vain. “After approaching several hospitals and trying for over12 hours my mother was finally admitted to one. But my father did not get admission in any hospital since his reports were negative. His CT-scan showed infection in chest.
Raval, who hailed from Choila village in Sabarkantha, lived with Rakesh, a businessman, in Austin, Texas. The family owns a fuel pump, restaurant and few stores that they have currently rented out.
Rashmikant Raval with his wife Sushila
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