Kolkata: In a recovery of miraculous proportions, Nitaidas Mukherjee beat Covid-19 and returned to his south Kolkata residence after being on a ventilator for 38 days.
According to doctors, it’s a very rare case because a Covid-19 patient who is put on ventilation is not known to survive for over five weeks.
“He has created a record of sorts in India by being the first patient of Covid-19 to have defeated the virus despite being on ventilator for 38 days,” the hospital where he was undergoing treatment said in a statement.
“I thank the hospital and the team of doctors who gave me a new life. This is my second life, you can say. Without them, I would have been dead by now. They are the actual heroes,” Mukherjee was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
The 52-year-old Mukherjee — who had contracted pneumonia in 2017 — developed cough and cold in mid-March this year. A few days later, he developed fever.
He was admitted to a private hospital on March 29. With his condition turning serious within a few hours, he was put on a ventilator the same night. The next day, he tested positive for coronavirus.
“The doctors told me his condition was extremely precarious. But they didn’t lost hope and continued to fight. I was not sure whether I would be able to see him ever again and prayed to God. I believe that the prayers of all those he had helped in the past, worked and helped him overcome this crisis,” his wife Aparajita was quoted as saying.
