ELURU: On Sunday evening, the happy world of M Sridhar’s family came crashing down, as the 45-year-old fell victim to the mystery illness that has gripped Eluru city. He became the first casualty of the illness, the cause of which is yet to be ascertained. Sridhar, a car driver by profession, is survived by wife, a 17-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son studying class 10. His family members rushed him to a hospital on Sunday morning, soon after he collapsed with a bout of seizures. By evening, all hopes of the family shattered, when their sole breadwinner breathed his last.
Before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, Sridhar along with his family members used to stay in Vijayawada. Almost six months ago, he shifted his family to Vidya Nagar in Eluru to his brother’s house as the schools remained closed during the pandemic. His wife, however, took the responsibility of the family and started selling milk packets and tiffin in the locality. His daughter studying Intermediate second year, aspires to become a doctor.
Speaking to TNIE, T Rajyalakshmi, sister-in-law of Sridhar, said her brother-in-law woke up around 5:30 am on Sunday and began his daily routine. “Suddenly, he fell sick and suffered from seizures and fell unconscious. Immediately, we rushed him to a private hospital for treatment. After examining him, the doctors referred him to government hospital. Around 7 am, Sridhar was admitted to government hospital and was prescribed medicines to prevent recurrence of seizures. In the afternoon, he ate a light meal and his health condition was stable when compared to the morning,” she explained.
However, around 5 pm, he again fell ill and collapsed near his bed after attending the nature’s call. “Immediately, a team of doctors reached the room without any basic medical equipment. We waited for at least 30 minutes expecting the doctors to check the blood pressure. As there was no response from them, one of our family members rushed to my house and brought the blood pressure monitoring device. How can the hospital authorities remain so irresponsible when several people are admitted to the hospital with mystery illness,” Rajya Lakshmi questioned.
“Around 6:30 pm, doctors informed that Sridhar’s health condition was deteriorating and referred him to government general hospital in Vijayawada. Even as arrangements were being made to shift him to Vijayawada, doctors declared Sridhar dead,” she lamented. “After completing the formalities, we shifted his body to our residence in Vidya Nagar. Around 8:30 pm, a team of police personnel reached our residence and asked the body to be shifted to hospital for post-mortem.
We argued with the police. Finally, his body was shifted to hospital after representatives of various political parties assured us of providing necessary support to Sridhar’s wife and children,” she said and urged the government to help Sridhar’s family.
Caught between hope and despair
Sridhar’s 17-year-old daughter studying Intermediate second year, aspires to become a doctor. His 14-year-old son is studying class 10 T Rajyalakshmi, sister-in-law of Sridhar, urges the State government to provide adequate compensation to the bereaved family