How Chittoor man saved 8 lives in Bengaluru in the middle of the night
Varun Kumar, who hails from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and works as a pharma business head in Bengaluru, got an SOS on Twitter from a hospital at around 1:30 a.m on 6 May.
By Sumit Jha Published on 24 May 2021 3:47 AM GMT
Bengaluru: Varun Kumar, who hails from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and works as a pharma business head in Bengaluru, got an SOS on Twitter from a hospital at around 1:30 a.m on 6 May. The hospital was running out of medical oxygen for the patients. Eight patients were on oxygen support with only another 90 minutes of supply left.
Varun called the hospital to confirm and immediately sprung into action. He called all his contacts including the city commissioner of police, Kamal Pant, and explained the situation.
"The commissioner assured me that authorities concerned will be alerted. He asked me to contact the assistant commissioner of police, Ajay Kumar. Meanwhile, the hospital's oxygen-filling vehicles were at the filling station but there was a huge queue at Peenya Industrial Area. The drivers confirmed that the oxygen could be filled only by early morning," said Varun.
The ACP acted swiftly upon receiving a request from Varun to send in the local police and prioritize the filling of one of the hospital vehicles immediately as eight patients were in danger. The ACP personally spoke and coordinated with the oxygen-filling unit and ensured that the hospital oxygen vehicles are given priority.
All this while Varun was constantly in touch with the hospital and oxygen-filling unit to ensure the required supply was sent to the hospital. Varun's timely action and efforts helped save eight lives.
During the lockdown last year, Varun had an eye-opening moment when a migrant worker knocked on his car window, asking for food. "I had read somewhere that 'people who build the country are homeless'. That incident shook me completely. I spoke to my neighbour and took their help and began feeding a couple of people every day," Varun said.
However, he felt that his efforts were not sufficient and decided to make it big. He decided to spend his 5 years of savings that he had to give in advance to buy an apartment. He pooled them all to feed not only migrants but all those who needed it. Almost 12000 migrants were provided food during the entire lockdown period and 5000 dry ration kits were given to the needy. Varun's actions saved hundreds of people from starvation.
Again this year, Varun who's himself a covid survivor is back into action helping people find beds, and attending SOS calls from across Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. He has also distributed medical kits in his hometown and essentials to frontline warriors. However, Varun denies calling all this as service and calls it duty towards fellow humans. With 300 plus SOS calls every day from patients and families, he spends all his time attending requests and catering to all their needs.
