Bye Daddy Bye: COVID-19 patient bids heartbreaking farewell from hospital bed

Hyderabad: A short, but desperate cry for help in the form of a WhatsApp video message from a dying man admitted at the Government Chest Hospital at Erragadda to his father that came to light on Sunday, yet again raising uncomfortable questions on the quality of care being offered to Covid-19 patients.

The gut-wrenching message from a son to his father, ended with the 35-year-old Covid-19 man’s plaintive: “Bye Daddy bye.”

The message ended with: “Bye to everyone.” He died soon after recording the message, according to his family. He was admitted on June 24 and died on June 26.

While the family accused the hospital of negligence, Chest Hospital authorities said he had died of cardiac complications, a cause which, according them, is becoming increasingly common, especially among younger patients infected by Coronavirus.

The authorities said that the patient was given medicines and put on supplementary oxygen supply but developed heart-related complications.

“I have been pleading with them to put me on a ventilator for the last three hours,” the man can be heard saying. Though he was fitted with a nasal prong to supplement oxygen supply, it appeared from the video that it was probably not enough.

“I am struggling to breathe and feel like my heart has stopped. They are not listening to me. They are not putting me on a ventilator,” the patient said.