Thread by @DrEricDing

Heart-wrenching—A mother in her 50s dies of #COVID19 after she had low oxygen. But there’s no ambulance, so her dead body is carried by motorbike—by her son & son-in-law, her corpse wedged in-between her sons, ferrying her home. Heart-breaking for India 🇮🇳.

2) This is a true story.

“In a heart-wrenching development in Andhra Pradesh, due to the non-availability of ambulance, a woman's dead body had to be taken to her native village on a motorbike.
The shocking incident took place in Kasibugga town in Srikakulam district on Monday.

3) “A video showing the deceased woman on a motorbike, wedged between her son-in-law and son, has left netizens shocked at the prevailing situation in the state.
The victim, aged around 50 years, belonged to the Mandasa Mandal in Srikakulam district.

4) “According to local sources, following complaints of sickness, her family members on Monday took her to a private hospital in Kasibugga town near Palasa for treatment. m.greatandhra.com/politics/andhr…

5) “On examining her, the doctor informed the family members that her oxygen level was low, and advised a CT scan to ascertain the problem.
However, on their way back to the hospital after conducting the CT scan, the woman passed away.

6) Following this, the autorickshaw driver immediately forced the family to alight from his vehicle and drove away.

Despite best efforts, the woman's family failed to secure the services of an ambulance to transport her body to their native village which is about 15 km away.

7) “Finally, they decided to carry her on their motorbike itself. The woman's son-in-law and son placed her body in a seated position between them, and rode to their native village. In video, they could be seen explaining their predicament to a few policemen, before riding away.

8) “According to local sources, the woman's test result confirmed that she had contracted Covid-19.”

9) So I’ve held off posting this video for half a day—been discussing this story with my Indian friends and verifying it. But it’s very much real.

My Indian friend said “This is probably the saddest thing I’ve seen so far” 😢

https://twitter.com/TeluguBulletin/status/1386916507632881664

10) So I had the conversation roughly translated (it’s in Telugu, not Hindi)…

Police was asking, how did she die. They replied saying lack of oxygen. Police asked where did she died? They replied in Guntur. Then they told that they are carrying her to Srikakulam.

11) reaction of this police officer who stopped motorbike for questioning… looking in disbelief… also notable. We would never know this story without him stopping them.

My Indian friends said this was the craziest story they have read all pandemic. And they have seen a lot.

12) Is this story unique? No. Crazier but not unique. Someone else carried their father’s body by rickshaw because no ambulance they could afford.

https://twitter.com/immak02/status/1387045089822662669

13) Another woman’s husband died while riding in a rickshaw. The Uttar Pradesh woman tried to mount to mouth resuscitate him, despite knowing he had COVID. But he died on the spot. telugubulletin.com/covid-19-woman…

14) Also how far is the motorbike trip ferrying her corpse from Guntur to Srikakulam by her sons? Almost 500 kilometers. Full day’s ride by car—even longer by motorbike.

Now imagine if that was your own deceased mother wedged on a motorbike. That would be so gut wrenching.

15) to be clear—I do **not** enjoy these heartbreaking stories. But the world needs to stand witness to these stories of suffering. As an epidemiologist, I know that COVID data and numbers only go so far—it can’t connect well with people. We need to motivate to care for others.

16) Because this ominous 1 mil death count is the future that we face for #COVID19 if we don’t change. But we don’t have to accept that. There is no fate but what we make.

Share vaccines. Ramp up vaccine production. Mask up. Ventilate. No indoor gatherings. No crowded rallies.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1385797607646285829

17) Cremation waiting line… of the deceased. And these are just the ones able to be transported to crematorium. Many cannot find ambulances or afford rickshaw rides to bring the dead bodies. Many reports of the dead being buried / burned in people’s backyards.

https://twitter.com/Bhayankur/status/1387229798989111299

18) if you’ve read this far… I know we have the empathy to also care about others suffering. So please take a moment to think about the children in Yemen, which is facing a famine.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1387313623811465220

19) A desperate mother pleaded at the front steps of a hospital for someone to save her 16 month old with #COVID19…. The toddler died at the door step of the hospital soon after, according to @ndtv @umasudhir.

https://twitter.com/umasudhir/status/1387308527807471616

20) we need to channel our outrage to demand change. Covering up or denying oxygen crisis and mortality numbers won’t help India 🇮🇳

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1385116938255454211

21) Why do u say we need to channel our our energy beyond grief? Because there is an crackdown in parts of India… in Uttar Pradesh province/state in northern India 🇮🇳 with 231 million people — human rights are now being violated in the name of political muzzling of the crisis.⬇️

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1387006905776750598

22) Help the children…

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1388132198608478209

23) let’s not forget the often forgotten invisible Dalit workers of the crematoriums in India… their struggles are real. See thread 🧵

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1388605841780224003