Amidst a surge of Covid-19 patients in Leicester, resident Sanjiv Patel shared how he was fighting for his life with coronavirus while dealing with the recent loss of his father due to the same.
A week before the UK announced lockdown across the country, Sanjiv’s wife started showing symptoms of Covid-19. He too developed the same symptoms a few days later. “The message at the time was not to confuse the symptoms with the common flu which was still going around at the time so we thought it could be that”, he told Leicester Mercury. His doubts were confirmed when his children too started showing Covid-19 symptoms as his health deteriorated. He resorted to self-isolation as best as was possible while living in a household comprising six family members. He was later admitted to the hospital along with his father due to severity in both their symptoms. His father’s condition was stabilising shortly before he passed away.
Sanjiv’s father’s untimely demise due to Covid-19 is among the many in the country whose families have suffered great losses and are still recovering. A believer himself, Sanjiv is a volunteer at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. Emphasising on the importance of faith and prayers in healing in difficult times like these, he said: “I have been more engaged with the temple and I thought I was engaged before. It has been so uplifting and I’ve now been able to share my experience to support others both here and abroad”.
