VIJAYAWADA: It was an unexpected moment of their life for the family members of 60-year-old Muktyala Girijamma, who was declared dead due to Covid-19 by doctors of Government General Hospital (GGH) on May 15. Watching her come alive after being cremated, is really unbelievable to them.She returned home a day before the family members were to perform her Shraddha ceremony. The sad thing is that she lost her son to Covid, but she is not aware of it. The strange incident happened at Christianpet in Jaggaiahpet mandal of Krishna district on Wednesday.
She returned home after being discharged from Vijayawada GGH. She was unaware of the fact that the hospital authorities declared her dead and handed over the body of another woman to her family, who cremated it. “I am happy to see my family and village again. I do not know what happened in the hospital. I am thankful to God who gave me another chance to live,” she said.
Muktyala Gaddayya (65) and his wife Girijamma are small farmers. They cultivate vegetables in their small piece of land and sell them in the nearby market. On May 2, Girijamma and her son M Ramesh (36) gave their samples for Covid-19 testing and both of them tested positive. Initially, they did not get hospital admission. A week later, Ramesh was admitted to a private hospital in Khammam. Girijamma was admitted to Vijayawada GGH and she was accompanied by her husband.
On May 15, Girijamma was shifted to another ward without intimating her husband about it. When he went to see her, he could not find Girijamma in the ward. When enquired about her, a doctor told him that Girijamma died. He also told him that her body was shifted to the GGH mortuary. Following Covid protocol, the body was wrapped in a plastic bag and shown to Girijamma’s family members from a distance.
“The duty doctor on that day failed to inform my uncle that she was shifted to another ward and told him that she succumbed to Covid. Believing it, we went to the mortuary to find her body where we were given the body of another woman. Since we could not verify the body before taking it as it was packed, we took the body home and performed the last rites,” said Nagu, Girijamma’s nephew.
“We are shocked and surprised to see my aunt coming alive. We do not know whom we have cremated,” he added.But for Girijamma, who is happy after meeting her family, is unaware of the fact that her son Ramesh succumbed to Covid on May 23. Efforts by TNIE to contact Vijayawada GGH Superintendent Siva Sankar to know as to how the family was handed over the body of another woman, went in vain as he was not available.