My guardian angels stopped by..
How would you react if a doctor tells you this – Your dad has had a severe heart attack. There are blood clots in his heart, two valves are not functioning and his heart is at a 10% capacity. He cannot breathe, his blood pressure has dropped massively and we can’t do much.
This is my story, as factual as it can get, there will be no photos, only emotions and an account of what I went through. Of angels and my inner demons.
On the 20th of November, after finishing the weekly chores I was relaxing watching some random cinematic footage shot on an FPV drone. That’s when I got the call that every son or daughter staying away from their parent’s dreads. My mom called and said – “Do not worry but dad has been taken to the hospital with chest pain, he’s perfectly alright and will be back home soon.”
I panicked, in spite of being a rational and practical thinker, I did panic. My eyes welled up, I was flushing and for a few moments, I lost control over myself. I had never felt so vulnerable and helpless in my life. I spoke with my wife and asked her to start looking for flight tickets and went out to take a brisk walk in an attempt to calm myself down. Then I thought, it really might be minor so stop overthinking.
But I guess this was only the beginning.. My cousin called me from the hospital an hour and a half later. All she said was, things are not good, start looking for flights and get here as soon as possible. That’s when I knew it was real and not a dream. My wife was already looking at flights and as everyone knows because of covid the situation was close to ridiculous.
After a long search, the most logical one we found was Sofia- Dubai- Delhi-Mumbai. So we booked the flight for Tuesday afternoon from Sofia, why so late one would ask? I would blame it on the covid protocols and mandates at various airports. All this in spite of being double vaccinated.
Angels in India
How could I stay calm for three days when my father was fighting for his life? My father was in India. In India when someone known to you goes through such a situation, support pours in from all directions. My cousin and her son reached there immediately, she with my dad and her son with my mom. Even before that the neighbors in our society (building) rushed to help mom, got a doctor, and on knowing what was happening rushed him to the hospital. Not a single one of them has walked to me and said you owe me so and so amount, it’s all written off as good deeds.
They all waited at the hospital, someone getting food for everyone who was there, others looking after aspects of getting the right treatment with my cousin. All this while I was on the phone with my cousin, talking to the doctor who was explaining to me the situation and asking me for consent before taking every step.
After the echogram, the doctor asked me for consent to give him a blood thinner which would help him ( has to be given within 12 hrs of the attack ) But the catch was, because of his state and vitals they did not know the extent of side effects it would show. In Fact, they were not even sure if he would pull through. But then, that was the only shot that we had. On giving the injection his vitals dropped further, and almost everyone thought we have lost him. He talked to my mom and the fight began to keep him alive, Oxygen, medication to try and bring his blood pressure up, draining fluid from his body. It was total chaos.
My cousin and I were on the phone through the night, praying, giving each other hope, and waiting for a senior cardiologist to arrive the next morning. All this information was kept away from my mom on purpose, we didn’t want her to panic. Fortunately, her sister reached on time to stay with her.
Help In Bulgaria
The next two days went by in organizing the finances, getting the RC PTR test done, making sure my mother-in-law reached here to help my wife and stay with her. But the most important part was money. I will not lie, I am not someone who saves a lot of money, I have enough saved as a backup and contingency plan. So, getting a huge sum organized in such a short period was a daunting task. I checked on my savings but knew the fact that with the exorbitant ticket rates and the condition that dad was in that’s not really going to help.
I turned to my senior colleague at Pubgalaxy explaining my situation and put in my leave application. A request to pay me my Incentives not as a quarter but what I had accumulated for the two months with my salary as an emergency case was approved No questions asked. I would forever be indebted to them for doing this. It definitely did improve my chances of getting closer to the required sum.
To be continued —
