In a heart-warming gesture, a 31-year-old Mumbai resident sold his Ford Endeavour to buy oxygen cylinders to give away to those in need. Impacted by the death of his friend’s six-month pregnant sister, Shahnawaz Shaikh decided to sell his car and buy oxygen cylinders for those in need.
Shahnawaz Shaikh had been using his car, that he bought in 2011, as a makeshift ambulance during the lockdown time to help people reach hospitals. However, on May 28 his business partner’s six month-pregnant sister succumbed to Covid-19 in an auto-rickshaw outside a hospital, Mumbai Mirror reported. The woman could have been saved had she received oxygen in time.
The woman’s family said that they took her to five different hospitals but they were turned away for the lack of beds or ventilators. She died outside the sixth hospital. It was from his doctor friends that he came to know that her life could have been saved had she received timely oxygen.
He has given oxygen cylinders to nearly 250 families of Covid-19 patients since June 5, according to reports. The SUV car, with a customised music system, had been his priced possession and had got a premium number- 007, installed at an additional cost.
He and his friends used social media to spread the word about the availability of oxygen cylinders. They just ask for a doctor’s recommendation before asking those in need to pick it up. However, in cases where the entire families are in quarantine, the volunteers deliver them wearing protective gear.