Shantanu Lodh, a pioneer in performance arts, was in the prime of his career when he met with an accident two years ago which left him in a coma. When doctors couldn't get him out of it, and his friends failed to find someone to take care of him, they shifted him to Anandam rehabilitation centre in Alwar district of Rajashtan that provides 24x7 nursing care to unknown and unattended patients.
"His friends came to see him from abroad when he was admitted. His wife still visits frequently," said a social worker with NGO Sapna that runs the centre. Lodh cannot move his arms and legs, and has no memory, but he did start batting his eyelids recently. It's a sign of a rare recovery from traumatic brain injury.
Anandam was started in 2007 and has been helping unknown and unattended patients, mostly those referred from the AIIMS trauma centre, live a dignified life.
The patients are discharged from hospital as they do not require surgery or specialised medical equipment, but they need continuous nursing care to prevent bed sores and for feeding.
Social workers and nurses at Anandam look after the comatose patients, clean them regularly and give them timely medication, nutrition and supplements. A doctor visits for medical care, said Anandam in-charge Ranvir Singh.
Read more of this in a report by Durgesh Nandan Jha published in The Times of India... May be reading this complete story some other NGOs come forward and replicate such model in different areas of the country.
