The minute the sneeze droplets hit the back of Rohan's neck, he knew trouble was brewing. He tried not to alarm his family but couldn't fool Manasi, his wife of 14 years. Manasi always trusted her gut, and her gut was telling her, 'The worst is yet to come. It was the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Mortality rates were high, terror had gripped the world as an unseen virus felled the population. Treatment was at best experimental. There was no vaccine in sight.
As Rohan was kept alive by machines, Manasi, managing her own ill health and that of their three children also stricken with the virus, battled to save her husband from the confines of her quarantine.
This is a tale of survival against all odds, all for love and family.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives beyond belief and imagination. It is perhaps the first worldwide crisis everyone has faced together, knowingly or unknowingly. Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less. Humanity is trying to cope with the stress and strain of the 'new normal' in its unique ways. I perceive sharing experiences as one way to find a common thread in that rich though tragic human experience. Furthermore, there is no better way of communicating than writing a book or a novel. Here in this book that you are about to read, the authors share an intensely personal experience during the pandemic. It is narrated as a story that unites as a shared human experience how the husband survived the complications of the coronavirus infection, and how his partner fought from behind the scenes, anxiously. This is their story; and they share their experiences candidly.
When I was asked to write a foreword for this story, I wondered, 'What is my qualification?' But as I read the manuscript, I began to feel that I am one of the narrative characters. Factually, I am a small part of the story but only from a distance.
28 March 2020
Eight minutes. Only eight minutes of flying time that could be the deciding factor between life and death. However, was it even possible to fly?
I was intubated, incommunicative, critical, my kidney failing every minute. Lying on a dreary bed, hooked up to tubes, I was fighting to stave off the novel Coronavirus symptoms that were spreading through my body, wrecking me from within. Like troops attacking an intruder, my immune system was attacking the virus, but here's the tricky thing-the immune system attacks the pathogens but the side-effects can be devastating. My chest x-rays showed no hope, my resting heart rate had shot up to 160 and an arterial line had been placed the night before to monitor my fluctuating blood pressure. It had been four days since the ambulance ride from home to the nearby emergency room, and then to a smaller hospital in Texas' largest metropolis, which had provisions for virus-infected patients.
For privacy concerns, please view our Privacy Policy
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist