KOZHIKODE: A 50-year-old homemaker at Edacheri near Nadapuram was aghast when her daily life-saving drug was exhausted. Suffering from a bump on the spinal cord, she is under the treatment of Kasturba Medical College (KMC) Hospital in Manipal. The drug could not be skipped even for a day and is unavailable in Kannur and Kozhikode. She was hopelessness personified till Sunday, with little transportation available.
The stubbornness of Karnataka on the border confounded her desperation. But after a day’s wait, she got the medicine delivered to her doorstep, thanks to the unbreakable chain of humanity formed from Mangaluru to Edacheri by Good Samaritans. The issue first came to the notice of Valsaraj Manalat, a Yuva Janata Dal leader and Blood Donors Kerala (BDK) Vadakara taluk president. He contacted Saju K P, a social activist and Congress leader from Kadavathur engaged in sourcing lifesaving drugs from distant places.“I posted the issue on Facebook and got in touch with one Shyja, who is employed in the administrative wing of KMC in Manipal,” said Saju, the Kannur District Congress Committee secretary. “Shyja was introduced by another friend Radha.
The image of the doctor’s prescription was sent to Shyja via WhatsApp and she met the doctor concerned. As per the doctor’s advice, the medicine was bought from Mangaluru on Sunday itself.” Manshood T P, a young trader in Thalassery, facilitated the arrangements from Mangaluru, through the volunteers of SDPI.
“A volunteer named Khadar Sahib brought the drug to Thalapady, the Karnataka-Kerala border. From there, it reached Thalassery through the hands of Sandeep, a Civil Police Officer with the Kasaragod Police Station, and later Khadar Arafa and Faizal Arafa before it came into my hands,” said Manshood. He handed over the medicine to Saju at Kadavathur.
Valsaraj Manalat received the drug from Saju at Peringathur and, on Monday, it was finally given to the patient. The woman turned emotional as her family had searched for the medicine in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam in vain. “Since March 26, we have received umpteen calls to make available lifesaving drugs,” said Saju. “We have been arranging them through vegetable lorry drivers, police, fire safety personnel and volunteers.”