Being Humane

The time was 11.40 PM. on 11^th September 2013.  A call from Suresh Thaliyaril saying that Arun Unnikrishnan, Justin G and his friend Binu went to Vipin are still with him as he is having fluid deposit in his lungs and so in distress.  Rather when he was taken to AIIMS during the day the fluid deposit was found to be blood deposit in lungs.  After immediate intervention he has been sent back from the casualty, but the pain and distress persisted even at night.  Arun Unnikrishnan is a PhD student in IIT Delhi whereas Justin and Binu are male nurses in JPNATC of AIIMS and ILBS respectively, but are together under DNipCare for rendering Palliative Home Care to a hip amputated 20 year old Cancer (Ewings Sarcoma) patient.  He had been discharged from AIIMS within one week of amputation of his left leg from hip in July 2013 and then onwards it is the volunteers including male nurses of AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital are doing the regular dressing of his amputation wound in addition to providing social and emotional support for him and family while the CanKids was kind enough to provide him a shelter in their hospice as he does not have either own or rented accommodation to stay.  

One may easily think that wounds, caring patients etc are not new thing for both Justin and Binu as they are medical professionals, but the crux of the matter is that these good Samaritans caring a patient in the midnight at his place is out of sheer humanity and fellow feeling because neither they were on duty at that time nor Vipin is their patient.  Instead of relaxing and enjoying their free time, these youngsters were burning the midnight oil caring a hapless, an ailing and now disabled patient.  Arun on the other hand is a post graduate in Mechanical Engineering and currently pursuing his doctoral program in the same discipline from IIT Delhi and does not have even a distant relationship with medical field, but anxiously waiting for Vipin to get relief from the pain and distress he is undergoing. 

An array of male nurses from these apex institutes volunteers with DNipCare and it is not only they are providing their services, but they themselves bear even the commuting expenditure for reaching to patients and back as well.

DNipCare is an organization rendering voluntary Palliative Home Care to long term, bedridden, terminally ill patients including Cancer and Geriatric Care patients on Saturdays, Sundays and closed holidays.  
11^th September 2013 was neither a weekend day nor a closed holiday, but when the situation warrants volunteers of DNipCare never think twice before venturing into.  

When I send a sms appreciating their services, instead of calling them as they were driving back home after the care, the two worded reply received from the trio was “Being humane”.  

I am speechless……

kv hamza,
Gen. Secretary, DNipCare
www.dnipcare.org
9891008356