Man Drives 2,740km To Save Wife Who Had Suffered 71 Percent Burns

A mother of a one-year-old child is in the news for not only recovering from 71 percent burns but also beating coronavirus in Jamalpur, Ahmedabad. The tragic incident happened on May 9. Misbah Kharawala, 23, was making tea at her house when her clothes caught fire. She suffered severe injuries and burns. She was rushed to the hospital nearby but was in tremendous pain. Doctors told the family that it is very unlikely that Misbah, who was also coronavirus positive, could survive 71 percent burns of her skin.

Since Gujarat does not have a skin bank, Misbah's husband, Faisal decided to drive non-stop 2,740 km to a skin bank in Belgaum in Karnataka, to get the graft material for the skin transplant procedure. He travelled under the lockdown without a break as it was urgent to bring the skin that she needed for her surgery. He had help from Imran Khedawala, MLA of Jamalpur-Khadia who somehow managed to admit Misbah into LG Hospital, Ahmedabad.

That was two-and-a-half months ago and Misbah fought valiantly. She is now fully recovered and was discharged on Tuesday.

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“I was from Jamalpur so no hospital wanted to admit me. Finally, our constituency’s MLA Imran Khedawala managed to secure a bed at LG Hospital,” said Misbah on Tuesday after she was discharged from the hospital, Times of India reported.

What You Should Know

• Misbah Kharawala got severely injured and had sustained 71 percent burns while making tea at home.
• After being admitted to a hospital she further tested positive of COVID-19.
• Her husband Faisal had to drive non-stop 2,740 km to a skin bank in Karnataka to save his wife.
• Almost two months later, Misbah had recovered fully and was discharged on Tuesday.

When Faisal took his wife to the hospital in May the city was recording daily spikes in infections. “None of the private hospitals in the city were admitting me. Once, we told them that I was from Jamalpur, they denied us treatment in the hospitals,” Misbah told ThePrint.

Misbah also recovered from COVID-19 by May 14 and soon after that, the graft procedures were performed. “Usually we get skin from Mumbai through a cold-chain process but the Mumbai skin bank could not help us,” an attending doctor told TOI. “We then contacted an Indore hospital, but that had been converted into a COVID facility.”

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Misbah has a one-year-old son. Her husband had to drive non-stop, along with her father-in-law, covering a distance of approximately 2,740 km back and forth, and returning with the skin in just 36 hours. “As soon as we got the homograft, we began the first surgery using homograft and autograft. She started recovering and can now walk on her own. She was finally discharged on Tuesday. During her two-and-a-half-month stay here, she was operated upon twice,” a doctor added, Ahmedabad Mirror reported.

Feature Image Credit: TOI

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