Ankit Desai was born on 24th May 1987, (Taluka Visavadar, District Junagadh). He completed his graduation and diploma in the sanitary inspection. Ankit is a person with hemophilia (PwH). Hemophilia is a genetic blood disorder where the PwH does not have enough blood clotting factors. Doctors infused an external element to stop the bleeding, which is often too costly. You can read more about hemophilia here.
Once, when Ankit was about three years old, he was playing with his cousin-brother and suddenly suffered a fall. He injured his upper lip and bled severely. His family didn’t know about him being a PwH. There were no doctors in Gujarat who knew the treatment for Hemophilia, and as a result, they weren’t able to treat Ankit.
The only option was Mumbai’s KEM hospital, almost 1000 kilometers away from his home. It took his family 20 hours to reach there, and unfortunately, he continued to bleed, even during that time. Thankfully, doctors treated him there, and his bleeding finally stopped. Ankit thanks God to date because it was no less than a miracle that he was still alive even after 20 hours of bleeding. In Mumbai, Ankit’s family was told that he was a person with hemophilia.
Ankit Desai – A true Covid-19 Warrior
Despite this life-threatening condition, Ankit has served and continues to serve as an active and brave Covid-19 warrior. He worked at the Ahmedabad District Panchayat healthcare center as a healthcare worker for almost 22 months.
Let us rewind to 2020. One day, at around 5 PM, Ankit and his healthcare team received an email from Ahmedabad district civil hospital regarding Gujarat state’s first positive Covid-19 patient. No healthcare providers, doctors, or scientists knew how to deal with the pandemic. There were not enough guidelines and protocols to protect people from the pandemic.
Ankit and his team collected all the data and traced the first case of Gujarat state. They registered that person as the first official Covid-19 patient from the Ahmedabad district.
The first case came from Shela Village, district Ahmedabad. Ankit and his team, with no delay, reached there by night. The individual who was found positive was not accepting that he was a Covid patient. It took hours for Ankit and his team to convince him because he wasn’t ready to be in the 14 days quarantine period. Ankit and his team needed to get the individual admitted to the newly established quarantine center in Ahmedabad.
The healthcare team took help from the police to convince the patient. And by a late night at 2 AM, they successfully sent the infected individual in an ambulance to the quarantine center in Ahmedabad.
However, the team had not finished their task yet. With the support of the police department, they managed to impose a strict lockdown in the housing society where the patient lived. They quarantined each of the patient’s family members and neighbors for 14 days.
The following day, Ankit and his team started their actual Covid warrior duty. They visited that area and ran door-to-door observation visits, check-ups, and screening campaigns to check for high temperatures and other symptoms. This continued for 14 days, and the team contained everyone in that society for each day of the quarantine period.
After this, Ankit and the team continued to serve the nation for the next five months without a single break. Ankit worked tirelessly for over 17-18 hours taking no leave from his duty for five months. It continued like a never-ending task that Ankit and his team performed day and night.
Their duty started at 8 AM, but their duty ending time was never fixed. There was no timing of when they could reach back home. He usually got back to his place by midnight. There were days when he returned home by 9:00 PM, 10:00 PM, or even post-midnight throughout the lockdown.
Ankit and his team received consistent emails and information about new passengers that landed in the state. The team ran to them, checked for symptoms, and quarantined them. They home-quarantined many patients in their societies and applied light or even strict lockdown as required. This continued for months together. Initially, the team had blurred vision because of no proper treatment insight. Still, their dedication as lifesavers and enthusiasm to fight against the deadly pandemic helped them continue their pursuit.
Ankit’s primary duties included Covid-19 testing, healthcare services, technicians’ and physicians’ help, vaccinating, and almost everything required to tackle the pandemic.
For the past 22 months, Ankit has been performing his duties like a typical healthcare provider. Being a hemophilia patient, he had to tackle his bleeding and injuries simultaneously. The initial period was too complex and challenging for him because there was no proper treatment, precautions, and guidelines to fight the pandemic.
Not only this, when Ankit returned home after serving society and finishing his duties, his neighbors and other people used to see him from different points of view. People doubted that he might have the symptoms of the virus or might have Covid-19 and would pass it to them too. They were afraid of the virus, quarantine situation, and the thought of coming into contact with a healthcare worker.
They hesitated to talk to him and were afraid to be around Ankit. Of course, it wasn’t their fault because the entire country was under lockdown. But healthcare workers like Ankit were also fighting societal stigma while fighting the virus and helping the patients.
After a long time, people understood, thanked, and appreciated the fighters’ work ethic and bravery. They wholeheartedly appreciated the Covid warriors like Ankit.
Ankit had many injuries throughout his duty period, but this tough guy never thought about his health once and continued his duty to save lives. Many times, he could hardly walk because of the injuries, but he didn’t stop. The nation should salute brave covid warriors like Ankit, who continue to serve society selflessly despite the challenges life has thrown at them.
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