Gas then, Covid now, meet thrice-born survivors

BHOPAL: There is no warning, it hits you out of the blue… Suresh Dayal Saxena, 72, could be talking about the killer gas that crept up on him and his family 36 years ago, or the Covid virus that put him at death’s door for a second time.Saxena is among a small group of thrice-born survivors who dodged both the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 and the Coronavirus pandemic that has already killed many in the community, bound by the tragedy. His son-in-law, who survived the gas when he was seven, has also beaten Covid.Saxena was 36 when the gas tragedy struck Bhopal. He lived in a joint family in Shahjahanabad, which turned out to be one of the worst hit by the MIC leak. The gas left him weakened and saddled with co-morbidities, like other survivors.And on November 2, 2020, disaster struck a second time. “I was diagnosed with Covid-19. I was numb with shock,” he said.“I am diabetic. It’s only after I contracted Coronavirus infection that I realised exposure to MIC has really taken a toll on my body,” he said. He fought the virus and is now back home.Saxena said he finds one thing similar between Covid-19 pandemic and the MIC leak which killed thousands 36 years ago. “We knew nothing about MIC then and when the gas leaked, most of us initially thought a family in the neighbourhood must have burnt chillies as people used to do in those days to drive away mosquitoes or other insects,” he told TOI.“Then we saw people staggering out of their homes with blood-shot eyes and tears rolling down their cheeks, coughing and vomiting. Everyone was looking in terror at each other, but no one knew what was making it difficult for us to breathe. We knew very little about Coronavirus, too. We used to hear on the radio, TV, phones, ‘If you have problems breathing, contact the helpline, or go to the nearest hospital’. You don’t know until it hits you,” he said.It began with incessant cough and fever. “I couldn’t eat and was almost bed-ridden. When I went to Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Centre (BMHRC), they took my sample for RTPCR test and put me in the isolation ward. After 24 hours, they confirmed Covid-19 and I was transferred to Chirayu Medical College, where I remained till November 12,” he said.His ordeal brought back chilling memories of 36 years ago. “The gas disaster was like a hurricane, which swept in unannounced and killed hundreds and rendered thousands ill. I remember the sight of Hamidia Hospital on December 3, 1984. There were bodies lying outside its walls too. People staggered in gasping for breath. Doctors were helpless as they had very little clue, but they worked tirelessly as the tide of victims overwhelmed them,” said Saxena.He remembers that all admitted patients, but for the critically ill, were told to go home to make space for gas victims. “It happened this time too. A few kidney patients I know could not get dialysis but facilities were more or less in place for Covid-19 patients by the time I was admitted. There are dedicated hospitals, Covid care centres, and if not complete but some information on how to contain the pandemic,” he pointed out. “We are better prepared to handle the pandemic than what we were during the gas tragedy.”Saxena’s son-in-law, Radheshyam Saxena, also has diabetes. At the time of the gas disaster, he was only 7 and was exposed to the gas as he lived in Tila Jamalpura. He was diagnosed with Covid-19 on November 21, and has since been discharged from hospital.His wife Sweta recalls the fear she felt when first her father and then her husband tested positive. “I know that co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension and lungs and kidney dysfunction, which are quite common among gas victims, render them easy prey to Covid-19,” she said.“Fortunately, my father and husband are well now. But, I can’t describe what I went through,” she told TOI.