NEW DELHI: A
CRPF commandant,
Chetan Kumar Cheetah, who became seriously ill after contracting
Covid-19
in May, was
discharged
from AIIMS Jhajjar on Thursday— 46 days after being admitted to the hospital.
During his stay at the hospital, doctors said, there were multiple occasions when it seemed difficult to predict if the decorated officer would survive. “Cheetah was so sick that he had to be put on a ventilator twice, once on May 30 and again on June 10. Normally, such patients do not survive, but his willpower and constant efforts from doctors, nurses and other staff members looking after him helped him tide over the crisis,” Dr Sushma Bhatnagar, chairperson of Covid services, AIIMS Jhajjar, told TOI.
She added that he would require minimal oxygen support at home, and his family has been advised to continue physiotherapy for faster recovery.
In 2017, Cheetah cheated death when he survived multiple bullet injuries sustained in a gun battle with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. He was the commanding officer of CRPF’s 45th battalion in Kashmir Valley in February 2017 when he suffered multiple bullet injuries in the brain, right eye, abdomen, both arms, left hand and in the buttock region.
The doctors at AIIMS Trauma centre had then performed multiple surgeries to save his life. He was discharged from the hospital in April 2017, and in 2018 he resumed work. The Government of India awarded him with the Kirti Chakra — the second highest peacetime gallantry medal.
“All the nurses and multitask workers at the hospital took extra care of him. They always said, as a CRPF commandant, Cheetah saved the lives of many citizens like them, and now it was their turn to do everything possible to save him,” said a senior doctor, adding that Cheetah, too, exhibited a fighting spirit.
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