COVID-19 impact: Odisha techie airlifted to Chennai for treatment after kin raise Rs 70 lakh via crowdfunding

Amrit Pradhan, a software engineer from Odisha, was airlifted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai from AIIMS hospital in Bhubaneshwar on Thursday after his family and friends managed to raise Rs 70 lakh for his treatment via crowdfunding, reports said. The 24-year-old engineer had reportedly contracted COVID-19 while taking care of his parents who had tested positive for the virus. His family members recovered, however, Pradhan got infected and developed pneumonia and septicaemia in the lungs. According to a report in The Indian Express, a native of Odisha’s Berhampur, Pradhan tested positive on 2 May and is on a ventilator since 12 May. Doctors at the AIIMS hospital in Bhubaneshwar advised his family for a lung transplant and better treatment after his condition did not show any signs of improvement. He has now been shifted to Chennai for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support and lung transplantation, a report in Zee News said. The whole treatment, including two-month long hospitalisation, is going to cost a whopping Rs 1.2 crore, as per the notification on the crowdfunding platform Milaap said. Hence, the family decided to urge people on social media to help in arranging the huge amount required for the transplant, reports said. As per the latest update on the crowdfunding platform, they have collected over Rs 70 lakh. “The Apollo Hospital team had brought an Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine which would keep him alive till he gets a lung transplant,” Chidanand Tarei, the techie’s brother-in-law told Hindustan Times. “For a middle-class family like us with health insurance, the maximum cover that we have is Rs 10 lakh. We had lost all hopes when we decided to appeal on social media," he added. Tarei thanked all the contributors for their support. “The amount of support and love that Amrit received was incredible,” he said.