Hyderabad: Twenty friends from the Sikh community came forward and extended their help to Covid19 patients here in the past 15 days. Some 35 families have been benefited by their efforts so far.
They are supplying free oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators and required medicines to those who are getting treated in home isolation.
This group lives in the surrounding areas of Ameerpet. Its members are of different age-groups and from different backgrounds. This group was formed with six members on May 1. They initially bought four cylinders, then slowly the team’s number grew up to 20, having equipment of 21 oxygen cylinders and four oxygen concentrators. Along with these, free medication is supplied.
Kunaldeep Singh, working in a corporate sector, said, “This idea occurred to us when we were sitting at the gurudwara at Ameerpet and discussing how we can be of some use to these suffering people. We friends wanted to start doing something immediately. Initially, we decided to distribute free food. But, the need for oxygen emerged. We changed the plan to procure oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators.”
“A Covid patient we helped is Shanker Yadav. We provided him oxygen cylinder for five days. He has recovered.”
Sukwinder Kaur said, “Due to this pandemic, I lost seven close family members. This made me think and I decided to do something for those affected by this disease. When the idea was shaping up, we knew it will be a great help to many. We started pooling in money. As our activities progressed, many more came forward to give us funds. We expanded our services. We hope more people will join us in this endeavour.”
Mahesh Chand Agarwal, a beneficiary from Balkampet, said, “My wife got infected. She required oxygen. I got this number on a social network site and contacted them. They immediately came with the oxygen cylinder. Without charging us for the service, they fixed the oxygen and left. At that time, it was a life-saver. Our family is thankful to them.”
Vishal Temker, another beneficiary, lives in Vidyanagar. ”My father got infected. He was treated in a private hospital for seven days. When he was discharged, his condition was not stable. Doctors advised that he be kept on oxygen support. I knew one of the group members doing this activity. When contacted, they helped us with the setting up of the oxygen cylinder free of cost. This was a great help to us.”
