Mahadev Hari Patel's "miraculous" recovery offers hope to hundreds of critically Covid patients.
In a heartening news from Mumbai, a 56-year-old heart transplant patient, who had suffered a stroke, multiple organ failure and pneumonia because of COVID-19, has successfully fought off the deadly disease in just one week.
Mahadev Hari Patel's "miraculous" recovery offers hope to hundreds of coronavirus patients across India and especially Mumbai, where 85 per cent of all those who have died of Covid were older than 50 years of age.
Talking about Mr Patel's case, Dr Prashant Borade, Head of Critical Care at Global Hospital, said the treatment involved doctors from various specialties coming together to decide a line of treatment for him.
"When he came to Global Hospital (on September 17) we ran a lot of tests to ascertain his condition. We realised he had suffered a stroke, his heart was weak, kidneys were failing, pneumonia had damaged his lungs, and he also had bacterial infection. This case was challenge for us. Teams from our cardiology, neurology, nephrology and the intensive care departments together treated Mr Patel. He was taken off ventilator support after five 5 days and discharged."
I feel like I have been given a third life, Mahadev Hari Patel, 56, said.
However, Mr Patel had to be re-admitted after he complained of difficulty in breathing. He is being given oxygen therapy at Global Hospital as a precaution, and his condition is medically stable.
"I am happy I will get to go home. I feel like I have been given a third life," said Mr Patel, who had undergone a heart transplant surgery just two years ago.
His son Dinesh Patel is equally ecstatic and grateful to the doctors.
"My father had a close call in 2018 after his heart transplant. Though he was coping well, he got Covid and his health deteriorated drastically. He was kept on ventilator support. Thanks to the doctors at the Global Hospital, he is doing fine now," he said.
Doctors at the Global Hospital have called Mr Patel's recovery a "miracle" and now plan to publish a case study so it can serve as a guideline for treatment of other critically ill Covid patients.
To treat COVID-19, doctors boost a patient's immunity. But for organ transplant patients, doctors have to lower the immunity.
With at least 42 per cent of all Covid cases in Mumbai being reported among those older than 50 years, the Mumbai municipal body, BMC, has been trying hard to ensure all Covid patients in this age demographic recover in a hospital as a "precaution", Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said.