BHUBANESWAR: Broken yet magnanimous! Such is the heart of Mousumi Mohanty of Bhadrak's Basudevpur.
The 23-year-old lost her husband to COVID-19 within six months of being married and while coping with her loss, she thought about thousands of others whose lives have been upended by the debilitating effect of the pandemic. On January 17, Mousumi donated Rs 40 lakh raised through crowd-funding for the treatment of her husband to the community reeling under these difficult times.
The young widow's story is of resilience and inspiration that restores our faith in humanity. Mousumi tied the knot with Abhishek Mahapatra of Mandari in Basudevpur on May 5 last year. Just 12 days into her marriage, Abhishek was infected with COVID-19 and had to be admitted to a private hospital. His health deteriorated as his lungs were severely infected. Doctors advised for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment.
Since the expensive treatment was unavailable in Odisha, Abhishek's family including Mousumi appealed to people for help. Following a campaign on social media, the family received generous financial assistance through crowdfunding to meet the exorbitant cost of the treatment.
In June, Abhishek was airlifted to Kolkata and after undergoing treatment for 83 days there, he lost his battle to COVID-19. "We had provided three bank accounts including the one of my brother to receive funds for Abhishek's treatment. People generously donated money despite it being a difficult situation due to the second COVID wave. Almost everyone was feeling the financial pinch of lockdowns and shutdowns but people still came forward to help us. This act of generosity humbled me," said Mousumi.
After Abhishek’s death, the crowd-sourced fund was no more useful to Mousumi. She decided to donate it so that others may benefit from it during their period of crisis. On January 17 this year, she along with her father went to the Bhadrak Collector's office and handed over a cheque of Rs 30 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) and another Rs 10 lakh to the district Red Cross Society.
“We are all in this pandemic together. What affects one person can have an effect on others too. Since Abhishek is not here, I wanted the money to be used to help people in distress. So I donated it,” she said.
Mousumi further informed that she is getting calls for help from people facing medical emergencies after she donated the money. “I have been getting letters and phone calls for monetary relief from people. There is some amount left with me which I intend to use for this purpose,” she said.
A science graduate, Mousumi is now pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a bureaucrat. She has started preparations for civil services examinations. She also wants to get involved in social service.
Her father Chittaranjan Mohanty (58) said he wants his daughter to move on in life. “The Collector of Bhadrak has assured to provide a job for Mousumi once the model code of conduct for panchayat elections is lifted. This will help her settle
down and overcome the devastating loss,” added Chittaranjan, who works as a peon in an NGO in Deogarh district.