Search
+
    The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    ‘I wanted to go straight to work’: Miss England Bhasha Mukherjee hangs up her crown, picks up a stethoscope

    Synopsis

    It all started when Mukherjee started receiving messages from her colleagues at the Pilgrim Hospital.

    Mukherjee’s colleagues were working long shifts and facing challenges they never had before.Agencies
    Mukherjee’s colleagues were working long shifts and facing challenges they never had before.
    In what can be called a true humanitarian gesture, Bhasha Mukherjee, a 24-year-old Kolkata-born woman who was crowned Miss England back in August 2019, has decided to put a pause on her charity work and return to her home country, England, to serve as a doctor, given the Covid-19 crisis.

    After winning the crown, Mukherjee had decided to take a break from her medical career and do charity work instead. It was the coronavirus outbreak that changed Mukherjee’s decision.

    In an interview with American news network Fox News, Mukherjee said that it wasn’t a tough call for her to take. "I've been to Africa, Turkey, and India was the first of the Asian countries I was going to travel to. After India, I had several other countries that had to be cut short because of obviously the coronavirus. I knew the best place for me would be back at the hospital," the 24-year-old said.

    It all started when Mukherjee was in India for four weeks in the month of March. That was when she started receiving messages from her colleagues at the Pilgrim Hospital in England.

    In an interview with CNN, Mukherjee expressed that it felt wrong to be wearing her Miss England crown as the world is fighting with a deadly pandemic. "When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you're still expected to put the crown on, get ready... look pretty."

    But, she added, "I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work."

    Mukherjee’s colleagues were working long shifts and facing challenges they never had before. “I really wanted to join the task force right away,” the young doctor said.

    Mukherjee returned to the UK on Wednesday. She will be self isolating before she returns to work as a doctor in Pilgrim Hospital.

    UK is one of the worst-hit countries by the pandemic. The country has recorded more than 50,000 coronavirus cases.

    The Prime Minister of Britain, Boris Johnson tested positive for the novel coronavirus on March 27. On 7 April, Johnson was shifted to the ICU and was put on oxygen support after his symptoms worsened. Although he had received oxygen, his office said he was still conscious.


    ( Originally published on Apr 08, 2020 )
    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
    ...more
    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
    ...more
    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in