This ‘ambulance couple’ goes where relatives fear to tread
   Date :16-May-2021

Himanshu Kalia_1 &nb
 ‘Ambulance Man’ Himanshu Kalia and his wife Twinkle help Sandeep Mitra to perform the last rites of his wife Madhura at Sarai Kale Khan crematorium in New Delhi on Saturday. Madhura, a COVID-19 patient, collapsed in an autorickshaw while she was being taken to a hospital. (PTI)
 
 
NEW DELHI ;
 
PROFILES of humaneness in the time of COVID, Himanshu and Twinkle Kalia spend their days between helping the ill get a fighting chance at life and ensuring dignity in death for those who don’t make it. As the second COVID-19 wave ravages large parts of India -- including the national capital that has seen thousands scramble for oxygen, hospital beds and crematorium spots -- the Kalias, Delhi’s ‘ambulance couple,’ ferry the ill to hospital, fetch medicines, arrange funerals and sometimes step in to perform last rites too.
 
Cloaked in PPE suits, face shields and masks, the Kalias go where even close relatives fear to tread, spending their days tending to people suffering from COVID or those who have died of it and making sure their fleet of 12 ambulances are road ready to tackle any emergency. “We don’t put it in records but in the second wave of coronavirus, we have been helping almost 20-25 patients daily reach hospitals. We have performed cremations of 80 people who have died of COVID-19 and helped over 1,000 people in arranging for cremations,” Himanshu told PTI.