A renowned 60 year old Chartered Accountant from Subhash Nagar in Udaipur died to due COVID-19 on November 23, followed by the death of his wife who was also COVID-19 positive on November 24. On December 17, their younger son, who was also a Chartered Accountant and in his late twenties, succumbed to COVID-19 in CIMS Hospital, Ahmedabad after fighting with related lung infections for 44 days.  What is left of the family is their daughter, who resides in US and landed in Udaipur on 24 November.

The 60 year old Chartered Accountant, his wife and son were diagnosed with COVID-19 on 5 November. After two days, the father was shifted to JJ Hospital on 7 November as his symptoms were increasing.  When his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to GBH American Hospital on 12 November.

After 4 days, while the father was still in ICU, the son was brought to the ICU at GBH American as his SPO2 levels were dropping considerably and he was put on ventilator. The mother was also brought to GBH, and after being looked after in the general COVID-19 ward, was shifted to ICU as well under ventilator. For a period of 6 days, all three - father, mother and son were in ICU, under ventilator for COVID-19 related infections.

The father was the first to succumb to COVID-19 on the night of 23 November (2:30AM). His wife, who was also in the same ICU, was not informed and the final rites of the deceased were done as per the COVID-19 protocol.  However, the wife came to know of her husbands death on the same evening and suffered a shock induced cardiac arrest. This cardiac arrest and COVID-19 led to her immediate death on 24 November, 24 hrs after her husband died.

In the meantime, the son who was in the same ward, was not informed of the death of his parents.  His situation was deteriorating due to a cavity in the lungs caused by the COVID-19 infection.  He was shifted to Geetanjali Hospital in Udaipur on 26 November as his condition was not showing any signs of improvement. 

In Geetanjali, he was administered ECMO (which is used when ventilators fail). The ECMO was brought by doctors from CIMS Hospital, Ahmedabad, as none of the hospitals in Udaipur have an ECMO. After being in ECMO for three days, he was shifted to CIMS Ahmedabad immediately. With a near 85% lung collapse and lung cavity caused by COVID-19, the ECMO acted as an alternative to supply Oxygen to the blood directly, while keeping the lungs free of this task.  Parallel Bronchoscopy was administered on his left lung to extract the infected portion. This caused blood leakage and eventually the left lung blasted, and blood entered the stomach.  This led to his painful death at 9PM on 17 December.

This entire episode has been narrated while names have not been mentioned. This post is meant to offer a silent obituary to the family, and at the same time, let the readers know that the COVID-19 disease is far from over. Numbers and concentration might follow a rise and fall - but the disease is there and it is deadly. Not to be taken lightly.  Hence please be careful and observe social distancing and COVID-19 safety norms for yourselves and your loved ones.