"I am grateful for everything they have done for me. Bless you all.".
These are the words of Bapi, a 60-year-old patient who Calcutta Rescue has been caring for since 2018. At the time, he had suffered a stroke and the right side of his body was paralyzed. He also had a serious skin infection after a terrible road accident.
Bapi lived alone in Howrah, about 4 km from the Nimtala Clinic, where he eked out a living by begging.
Calcutta Rescue arranged for his hospitalization, later got him a tricycle to get around, provides him with food, tends to his wounds and offers further medical help.
In September of this year, the Calcutta Rescue team learned that Bapi was seriously ill. "I rushed to see him," said Partha, the head of the Nimtala clinic. "He was lying on the sidewalk and breathing heavily. He had a very bad-looking wound on his right foot and his body was swollen."
Partha and his team took Bapi to the Nimtala Clinic to see Dr. Kundu. He says: "He looked very weak, but was able to tell us that he was in pain. We gave him easily digestible food."
Calcutta Rescue took Bapi to a state hospital, which refused to admit him as an inpatient. However, a physical examination was carried out and a list of laboratory tests to be carried out was given. "We went around with him, had the tests carried out and were finally able to arrange for him to be admitted to another hospital," says Partha. After two weeks, Bapi was discharged from the hospital and Calcutta Rescue again took over the treatment of his wounds and provided him with medication and food.
But Bapi's bad luck was not over yet. A month after his release from hospital, Partha went to check on him, but he was not in his usual place. "We heard from the shopkeepers that the police had taken him to another place. We investigated the address and found him. He was very ill again. His old wound was festering and he was in a lot of pain. Again, we took him to hospital," says Partha.
Bapi is gradually recovering in hospital. Dr. Kundu explains that Calcutta Rescue plans to find him a place in a home for people without families, where he can live in a clean environment and there is much less risk of his wounds becoming re-infected.
Life has not been easy for Aava lately
Life has not been easy for Aava (name changed) recently, but without the support of Calcutta Rescue she might have lost her life and not just her leg.
The 58-year-old widow was cured of leprosy three years ago thanks to the medical care and drug treatment provided by Calcutta Rescue. However, she has suffered considerable irreversible damage to both feet from the disease, which have to be bandaged regularly. She also suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Aava lives with her son, daughter-in-law and grandchild in a hut about 14 km from Calcutta Rescue's Nimtala Clinic. "Aava used to come to the clinic regularly to have her wounds treated and to receive medication for diabetes and high blood pressure. But then she suddenly stopped showing up and we called her family. Thank God we did," says Partha, the head of the Nimtala clinic.
"Aava's wounds had started to smell foul," said Dr. Ghosh, head of the Calcutta Rescue medical team. "When we heard this, we arranged for him to be admitted to hospital immediately." Calcutta Rescue staff and Aava's son went from one hospital to another, but none would admit the patient. Aava's condition continued to deteriorate. Finally, Dr. Ghosh reached Aava's emergency room in one of the hospitals. Tests revealed that her blood sugar levels were fluctuating wildly and she needed a blood transfusion. After she was stabilized, the wounds were assessed. Partha says: "The wounds had become very bad. The doctor decided to amputate her right leg."
The operation was a success and Calcutta Rescue is now carefully treating the wounds.
Dr. Ghosh says: "The high blood sugar level was the cause of the massive deterioration of the wounds. They could have led to death if the leg had not been amputated in time. Once the amputation wounds have healed, we plan to fit Aava with a prosthesis so that she can move around."
Aava's son says: "Calcutta Rescue supported us with everything. If the organization hadn't helped us with the costs of the hospital stay, the operation, the medication and the bandages, I probably wouldn't have got my mother back. I am very grateful. Thank you very much."