How far can love take you? In a heartwarming tale, a 65-year old man from a village in Tamil Nadu pedalled 130 kms on his bicycle to reach a hospital in Puducherry, just so his wife did not miss her chemotherapy session.
The nationwide lockdown, that has cut public transport, has come down hard on people like Arivazhagan, a daily-wage labourer, who felt stranded without a mode of transportation to take his wife to the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) hospital in Puducherry. On March 31, Arivazhagan along with his 60-year old wife Manjula, pedalled on his bicycle from his village near Kumbakonam to reach JIPMER hospital in Puducherry for her chemotherapy session. On four-wheeler, this distance can be covered in about three hours.
Clad in his dothi, Arivazhagan made his wife sit on the carrier of his bicycle and tied her body to his using a towel so she did not slip and fall from the bicycle when he began pedalling fast. The couple started early, around 4.45 am and reached JIPMER hospital at about 10.15 pm, stopping on the way for tea and also catching up on their sleep for about two hours by the damp coolness of a pond en route.
Although the Out Patient Separtment (OPD) and the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) of the hospital had been colosed due to coronavirus treatment, hospital officials upon hearing his astounding feat, decided to give Manjula the needed treatment. The couple were then lodged at the hospital for the night provided food and sent back home the next day in an ambulance.
Speaking to IANS, Arivazhagan said, "They gave my wife the needed treatment and pooled money together and gave me that. They also gave medicines for one month and paid about Rs 6,300 for Ambulance to drop us back."
According to him, a doctor at JIPMER had called him on Saturday morning and enquired about Manjula's health. "He also told me that an ambulance could be organised to bring Manjula to JIPMER for treatment," Arivazhagan said.
Arivazhagan and his wife, who are not covered under the Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister's Health Insurance Scheme or under the Central government's healthcare scheme, preferred to be treated at JIPMER instead, for better treatment. "I save from my daily wages and take her to JIPMER in Puducherry," he adds.
Looking back at his own determination, Arivazhagan wonders out loud, "It is still unbelievable as to how I pedalled the distance."
(With inputs from IANS)