Bhubaneswar: Odisha youth Abhishek Mohapatra (28), who was one of the few Covid-19 patients in Odisha to be airlifted to another state for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) treatment, succumbed Friday to the virus. Abhishek, who is from Bhadrak district, had been on ECMO support in a Kolkata hospital for close to three months.
Abhishek was hit by the Covid-19 virus just after a week of his wedding. He was shifted to a hospital in the state Capital for treatment. However, he turned critical and the doctors suggested ECMO support as the only means of his survival.
Despite facing severe financial crunch, Abhsishek’s family managed to arrange funds. He was airlifted to Kolkata June 7. Initially it was decided to shift the 28-year old patient to Kolkata through a special ambulance with ECMO support due to financial constraints but doctors cautioned against it.
Abhishek was one of the first patients in the state to be airlifted to another state for ECMO treatment. Now however, the Odisha government has set up a ECMO ward at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and AIIMS in this city.