Thodupuzha: A youth, who returned to Kerala from Qatar to meet his ailing father, voluntarily reported at the hospital after he suspected that he had contracted the Coronavirus. In a cruel twist of fate, his father died the very night and the youth, who was admitted to the isolation ward, could not even take part in the funeral.
It was heartbreaking for 30-year-old Lino Abel to helplessly watch through the window of an isolation ward the body of his father being taken home for the final journey by an ambulance.
Having rushed from Qatar on March 8, Lino wanted to be with his father who was hospitalised after a fall from his bed.
The condition of his 70-year-old father, Abel Ouseph, worsened after he suffered a stroke and he passed away on March 9.
Lino, a photographer, is currently at the isolation ward of the Kottayam Medical College Hospital.
Though Abel was in the same hospital, he could not see his father for one last time as he was in the isolation ward. As the ambulance carried his father's body, he took one last glimpse from the window of his room.
He saw the last rites of his father through video call.
"If I had not reported myself, I could've seen my dad for one last time. But I did not, because I decided not to spread the disease in case I was affected. The expats here please report to the health authorities. If you can spare a few days, you can spend rest of your time happily with your family," he wrote in Facebook post.
"Isolation ward is not a concentration camp", Lino said while insisting on the importance of expatriates to self quarantining themselves to protect their families.
The decision of Lino to quarantine himself despite reaching the state to visit his hospitalised father was praised by many, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
However, Lino's blood test result turned out to be negative on Saturday and he would be returning to his home in Thodupuzha in Idukki district.
