Chandigarh: As second wave of COVID-19 hit our country, it certainly has highlighted the much-needed reform in the healthcare sector. People wailing outside hospitals looking for oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators and beds will be etched in our memories for a very long time.
Amid all this, people from all walks of life have been coming out to help or contribute for the ongoing battle against the pandemic. Many individuals came forward and helped those in need of vehicles, ambulances, isolation centres or arranging oxygen cylinders and concentrators. One of them is 16-year-old Garv Singh Khurana from Chandigarh, who is helping to arrange oxygen concentrators for those in urgent need.
The teenager says that as he struggled to arrange oxygen for a relative admitted in Delhi, he realised the magnitude of the crisis. “My relative in Delhi was having Covid and and he needed oxygen. He was not getting it. I got back to Chandigarh and arranged it but with a lot of hassles, and then decided to raise funds," said Garv Singh.
He set up an online donation page and since then, he has arranged 16 oxygen concentrators.
"We set up a fundraiser over 10 days ago. As many as 16 oxygen concentrators have been procured and the goal is of getting 100 concentrators. I go and drop concentrators at home for COVID-19 patients as they cannot step out," he said.
Garv Singh now has a web page where he is flooded with similar requestss. But now, since the infection has spread to the rural areas, he has tied up with the public representatives and distributors working in rural areas.
As India battled a massive spike in cases, liquid oxygen stocks in many parts of the country were depleted, forcing people to look for alternatives.
As part of the Lottoland Aaj Ka Sitara series, we feature ordinary citizens and their extraordinary actions. Lottoland will support Garv Singh's cause with a cash incentive of ₹1 lakh.