PATHANAMTHITTA:The rain has dealt a body blow to P V John. The 75-year-old of Puthiyamadathil House, Nalkalikkal in Aranmula, has been a renal patient for the past decade and has been undergoing dialysis once in three days for the past three years at a prominent private hospital in Kozhencherry. But the flooding in the area has left him trapped in his house, unable to get his vital treatment. Added to which, there is no power in the house where he lives alone with his wife. John’s body has started to swell and is showing signs of weakening.
His children, living outside the state, are sick with worry. The last time they spoke to him, they advised him to watch his diet so the lack of dialysis would not adversely affect his body. John is just one of many critically ill patients who have been rendered helpless by the flooding.
Critical medical facilities at the hospital where he has been undergoing treatement have ground to a halt with cuts in power supply, prompting authorities here to send out an SOS via social media. The damage a month of rain can cause has been an eye-opener for an area known for its elite medical facilities. In Kozhencherry, hospitals are struggling to get medicines and oxygen cylinders. The same is the situation in the Ranni and Vadasserikkara regions.