Phone gifted by COVID-19 patient reconnects lost trucker with family

Both had been admitted to the ICU in a Mizoram hospital

Gurmeet Singh was tasked with driving a truckload of essentials to a warehouse in Mizoram almost a month ago. He instead ended up being driven as a COVID-19 patient to the Zoram Medical College in Aizawl.

When he came to his senses after a few days in the ICU, Mr. Singh found that he had rammed a language barrier; no one understood his Punjabi-laced Hindi and he could not catch the Mizo-accented English the healthcare service providers used.

To make things worse, he had lost his mobile phone. Lalrinmawia, a teacher at the Mizo Higher Secondary School in Aizawl, came to Mr. Singh’s rescue by gifting him a handset and a SIM card.

The teacher, who was admitted to the isolation ward with Mr. Singh and others, noticed Mr. Singh borrow the phone of another patient. “The other man gave him the phone reluctantly. It was understandable...I called up my family to fetch me an unused handset in the house,” Mr. Lalrinmawia told The Hindu on Sunday.

“I could sense he was having problems communicating. So I gave him the phone to speak to his family and employers,” said the teacher. “But it was something any man would probably do for another one in trouble and lost far from home,” he added.

Mr. Singh was spotted by villagers at Khamrang, about 75 km from Vairengte at the border, from where he was allowed entry after a rapid antigen test found him to be negative. “Members of the Khamrang Village Level Task Force found him sleeping under the truck, almost unconscious. “We sent a medical team and admitted him at the COVID Care Centre in Kolasib, but he was shifted to Aizawl because of other health complications,” district information officer Hmingthanzuala said.

Mr. Singh was released five days ago and could not be contacted.