MALAPPURAM: The doctors in the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Manjeri, had used plasma therapy as a last resort to save the life of vetern footballer E Hamza Koya. The doctors took the decision to use the therapy after his condition worsened on Friday night. However, even that could not save his life. Dr Shinas Babu, nodal officer of the Covid special treatment centre at GMCH, said it was the first time plasma therapy was used in a Covid patient in Kerala. “Hamza Koya’s condition was very bad, so our medical team decided to use the therapy as a final attempt to save his life. Unfortunately, we did not get the desired results,” Babu said.
While unavailability of plasma is an issue, in this case, two Covid survivors — Muhammad Basheer, 41, from Payannad and Alishan Saleem, 22, from Tirur — had happily came forward to donate plasma for the therapy. “When I asked them to donate plasma for the critically ill patient, they immediately reached the hospital. We took 450ml of blood from each person for the therapy. Though we could not save the patient’s life, the kind act of Basheer and Saleem gave us the confidence to go ahead with our efforts to save critically ill patients,” he said.
While their gesture could not save the veteran footballer, Saleem and Basheer are happy they could at least help. Basheer said he reached the hospital half an hour after receiving the call from the hospital. “I will not say no to any chance to help those struggling with the disease. I would have been happy if the patient got cured,” he said.
Basheer, who was working with an event management company, was admitted to the GMCH on March 24. Saleem, who was doing MBA in Scotland, was admitted on March 23. After recovering, both of them were discharged on April 13.
About the donors
Basheer was admitted with Covid-19 on March 24, while Saleem was admitted on March 23. After recovery, they were discharged on April 13.