A Covid warrior who led from the front

Dr Taha Mateen of Hazrat Bismillah Shah hospital in the city faced a peculiar problem during the Covid-19 wave. He had the beds and equipment to fight the pandemic, but the doctors were keeping away for fear of contracting the virus. Dr Mateen exhorted the doctors to take up the challenge through a video message. In addition, he and Mercy Angels volunteers also arranged for food packets and final rites of Covid victims.

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: “It does not matter how long we live. What matters is how we live.” This was the wakeup call by Dr Taha Mateen for many doctors across Karnataka or may be the country, who were hesitant to attend the increasing Covid patients at the hospitals.

Dr Mateen, an administrator of Hazrat Bismillah Shah (HBS) Hospital in Shivajinagar in Bengaluru, had appealed on camera seeking ‘Doctors’ to work in this Waqf charitable medical institution.

“It’s been a virtual blood bath,” he started. “I came this morning at 7:30 am and its 12 in the midnight now. I’m getting continuous calls from the distressed people pleading for help as someone in their immediate families or relatives are breathless and could not find a bed or room in the city. And at this time, it is just me and another Doctor Shiva who are attending the patients here at the hospital. No other doctors are willing to come to the hospital at this point of time. I have beds, oxygen beds, ventilators; I have all the equipment necessary and sufficient for now. But I do not have the doctors. I’m just asking for six hours of time from your day. Please, this is my request. This is the time to show that we care. Sometimes there is an Indian army at the frontline; sometimes the fire fighters are at the frontline, sometimes the police. Similarly, at this point of time, we the doctors are at the frontline. There is somebody’s mother, somebody’s father, brother and sister admitted here. Are we not going to help them? Let us be afraid of the God almighty, our creator and work together at this moment.”

The video clip of Dr Mateen appealing to other doctors and nurses to join the fight against the coronavirus went viral across social media platforms.

Dr Mateen said, “When I motivated my staff they asked me, if I get sick, will you take care of me? If my family gets infected, will you take care of them?”

The medical fraternity is the hero. The National Health Service of the UK applauded and encouraged the community for their efforts during the rough times. But still the healthcare workers could have got more support from our government, he said.

“This is not the story of only HBS Hospital. I have leading doctors from leading corporate hospitals call and tell me that they are faced with the same problem,” Dr Mateen added.

HBS Hospital started the Mercy Mission programme in March. The Mercy Angels team helped the families to get the bodies of their loved ones released from the hospitals and move them to the respective burial grounds, following the completion of all the Covid protocols.

The umbrella organization of 19 voluntary bodies also distributed a little over 10,000 ration kits that were donated by Zomato, Feeding India and Rotary Midtown. Mercy Mission also ran 33 ‘Mercy Kitchens’, which cooked and distributed 14.5 lakh food packets, valued at Rs 2.6 crore. The NGO also fed 2.85 lakh meals to the labourers travelling by 107 Shramik trains between May 1 and June 6.The team had a dedicated ambulance and practised high hygiene standards when dealing with the bodies. They wore PPEs and sanitised their vehicles and equipment frequently.

“A lot of family members are quarantined and are unable to make it to the cremation. Only five people were allowed to gather at Covid funerals. Whenever someone died, there was no Hindu, Muslim or Christian. Our mission is about overcoming all these artificial barriers and bringing everyone together. We respect all religious sentiments,” he said. Dr Mateen said that death due to Covid-19 was a lonely one.