'Won't be able to meet you': Dying Kerala nurse who treated Nipah patient to husband
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to Facebook to express his grief over her death, and wrote, "Lini’s sacrifice is incomparable."
"I think I am almost on my way; I don't think I'll be able to meet you. Please look after our children. Take them with you to the Gulf; don't be all alone like our father, please."
These were the last few words scribbled by Lini, a 31-year-old nurse, who died on Monday morning. The letter was addressed to her husband Sajish, asking him to take care of the couple’s toddlers, aged two and five.
Lini had taken care of Mohammed Sadik, the first victim of the Nipah Virus in Kerala. According to Sajish, Lini had developed fever a day or two after Sadik passed away.
“She was very much disturbed by the death of Sadik,” Sajish told The Hindu.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote on Facebook, “The loss of Lini, who had sacrificed her life for nursing a patient, is a grief for all of us. Lini’s sacrifice is incomparable. It is painful that Lini met with this tragedy while she was sincerely doing her duty. We, the people of the state, share the pain and loss of Lini’s family, friends and colleagues.”
Lini was a daily-wage employee at the EMS Memorial Cooperative hospital at Perambra and had joined the hospital only in September last year.
Three nurses from the same hospital who had attended to Nipah Virus-affected patients have contracted the illness. They have been referred to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.
Though lab results of Lini’s blood and fluid samples hadn’t come yet, her body was not handed over to her family. After consulting the family, authorities cremated the body in an electronic crematorium. This was done as a precautionary measure to ensure that the virus, if present, did not spread further.
Sajish told the media that though they had accepted the government’s decision to quickly cremate her body, they were hurt when some ambulance staff refused to carry her body on to the vehicle. The family finally had to ask for help from the police.
Lini’s children, husband and others who had been in close touch with her are under observation and their blood samples have been taken.
Ten people have reportedly lost their lives to the Nipah Virus in Kerala so far, of which lab results in four cases are awaited.