Ganesh Prasad, a 63-year-old patient who was on critical care support for 61 days, has become the longest surviving COVID patient in the country. Prasad, a resident of Ranchi, Jharkhand, was airlifted to Kolkata in May after his health condition deteriorated.
“First challenge was to shift the patient in that condition. We had to shift him via air ambulance along with the ventilator and right after we admitted him to the hospital, he was put on Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. After keeping him on ECMO for 19 days, we had to put him back on ventilation for another few days. The entire process of treatment has been tough for us as well but our team, and the family members of the patient went on supporting us,” said Dr. Soham Majumdar, Prasad’s physician and ECMO specialist at AMRI Hospitals in Kolkata.
“It is difficult for a COVID patient to survive on ventilation for more than 5 weeks. Continuous monitoring, continuous surveillance and continuous critical care nursing are the reasons behind this successful treatment,” said a consultant of AMRI medical team.
Prasad has gone through a critical treatment and has been on ECMO support for 19 days and on ventilator for 42 days. He had major lungs problems, severe muscle weakness and went through aggressive physiotherapy and therapy to overcome swallowing difficulty.
“It is really a miracle. Doctors said ECMO is the only solution but again, we were also told that there’s just 25 to 30% of scope for (his) survival. It was the peak of the second wave and getting hospital beds were also difficult. We came across Dr. Soham’s contact somehow and he was the one who gave us hope. Sixty-two days have been a long battle for him, but yes, he has emerged victorious in this battle,” said Prasad’s son, Rahul Kumar.
“He has been the pillar of our house. Looking at him in this condition, being challenged by COVID, have been difficult for us every single day. He’s a fighter and we’re extremely happy that he is finally returning home,” said Prasad’s daughter-in-law, Anamika.
Prasad finally returned home on July 11 after going through an intense treatment for 64 days. More than two lakh people died during the devastating second wave in India, but Prasad’s story gives hope to the country that is preparing for an imminent third wave.
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