Surat: Gritty nurse slays Covid twice, rejoins battle

SURAT: For the past three decades, this ‘florence nightingale’ of Surat has been a pillar of support to the caregivers of

New Civil Hospital

. But when it came to the battle times with the pandemic,

Vasanti Nair

, head nurse at NCH showed her steely grit behind the starched uniform. Despite contacting Covid twice in the past one year, the ‘unputdownable’ 53-year-old returned to duty on Monday, two days before

International Nurses Day

.


Nair, a patient of thyroid and rheumatoid arthritis, has been on medication for many years now. She has, however, refused to to take a break till the

coronavirus wave

is controlled. Her daughter too suffered from Covid twice.

In April 2020, Nair played a key role in setting up the exclusive and largest Covid-19 hospital at the stem cell building on NCH campus. She cared for the positive patients when fear and panic related to coronavirus was at its peak. She tested positive in May end and had to be hospitalised as her condition deteriorated.

“I recovered after 10 days and soon after my quarantine period was over I joined duty. I continued performing my work when my daughter too got the infection,” Nair told TOI. “Nair did exemplary work in setting up the Covid-19 hospital in 2020 in a short time. After this, she was again assigned to set up another Covid hospital on NCH campus at the Kidney hospital building. Nair again tested positive this year on April 30 and was home quarantined for 10 days. But once it was over, Nair returned to duty immediately,” said Iqbal Kadiwala, chief of nursing staff at NCH.

“This time the infection was not serious and I recovered with basic treatment. My family supports me and encourages me to work hard,” Nair said.

Nair’s daughter Kriti, 24, a biotechnician at a private laboratory, who too tested positive in June 2020 and again in March this year, has also joined work after recovery. Similarly Nair’s younger sister, 51-year-old Sunita is also a senior nurse at the railway hospital in Udhna, who too has been relentlessly waging a war against the virus without a break at the hospital.

“I am co-morbid and the fresh wave of coronavirus is terrifying. I saw stable patients dying suddenly. I sometimes feel afraid, but if we stop working then who will take care of patients in such times? This thought keeps me going despite getting infected twice,” Nair added.