MUMBAI: India is currently in the grip of a severe third wave of COVID-19 that has thrown the country into a state of suffering and despair. Doctors and healthcare workers are working round the clock without any breaks to treat patients amid a deadly second wave that is infecting lakhs of people and claiming thousands of lives every day.
With more than 3,00,000 cases and more than a thousand deaths in a span of 24 hours, the healthcare sector in the country has been stretched to such a point that it can collapse anytime. Social media is flooded with requests from people seeking hospital beds, ICUs, oxygen cylinders, and other things necessary to fight the deadly virus. The oxygen crisis, in particular, has crippled several hospitals as thousands of lives are dependent on it. But thanks to some ‘Corona heroes’ and godsends, there remains home in this time of darkness and despair. Mumbai’s Shahnawaz Sheikh is a hero who is also known as ‘Oxygen Man’ in his local area. A resident of Malad, Sheikh has been working tirelessly to provide oxygen cylinder to COVID-19 patients, according to a report by India.com And this isn’t the first time that Sheikh has offered help during the pandemic. He has been a corona warrior and hero since 2020.
This year, he and his team have set up a control room in order to coordinate and communicate effectively with those in need of help. Sheikh is so passionate about his work that he has even sold his SUV worth Rs 22 lakh a few days ago to help the people in his locality. After he sold his Ford Endeavor, he managed to procure as many as 160 oxygen cylinders for patients. Sheikh, in an interview to a news daily, said he started working as an oxygen supplier after his friend’s wife died in an auto last year due to the lack of oxygen. Since then, he has started a helpline and focussed all his efforts and resources on providing timely help to COVID-19 patients.
His team has reportedly already helped more than 4000 people.
