West Bengal: Trader drives 600km from Sodepur, delivers injection to Jalpaiguri patient

KOLKATA: The city showed its golden heart once again with a good Samaritan steering over 600km amid the lockdown to deliver life-saving drugs to a stranger.
Kamal Das, a middle-aged trader who runs a sweet shop in Sodepore, drove for over 12 hours to cover the distance to take a precious injection to Jalpaiguri for a 38-year-old patient suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.The patient was desperately looking for this ‘Rituximab’ injection, which costs Rs 82,000 per file, but couldn’t find it in entire North Bengal during the lockdown.
Das came to know about the patient’s condition through his Jalpaiguri-based business partner. That Subhrajit Ganguly, the patient, was administered painkillers and sleeping pills to cover up his acute pain moved Das. He got in touch with the patient’s family through his friend Mrinal Kanti Majumdar and got the prescription mailed to him. He then contacted Kolkata-based medicine wholesalers and managed to procure it.
“After getting two files at Rs 62,000 with a discount, I didn’t think twice to go to Jalpaiguri in my car immediately. I went to the Khardah police station on Thursday to collect the transport pass and started for Jalpaiguri around 11am on Friday. I reached my friend’s house in Jalpaiguri around 11.30pm on Friday. I handed the medicine over to the patient on Saturday morning at his house. He was then admitted to a nursing home in Jalpaiguri, where he was administered the injection,” Das told TOI from the Jalpaiguri nursing home.
“My husband is administered the injection twice a month every two years. He was in dire need of this injection in the first week of April. But despite contacting several medicine distributors, we couldn’t get it. The deadline of 72 hours given by doctor to administer the injection was almost over. Unable to bear the pain, my husband had to take painkillers and sleeping pills. Fortunately, we got in touch with Das through our neighbour Majumdar, who offered to deliver the medicine to us from Kolkata. We are indebted to him,” Ganguly’s wife Soma said.
Das, a resident of Sodepur Prajatantra Pally, had earlier extended his help to the policemen and healthworkers in the Sodepur-Khardah area by providing masks, gloves and sanitizers when the lockdown started. He has also distributed relief materials among the poor in his locality. “I feel good to stand by people. The Ganguly family is now relieved and that makes me happy. I will drive back to Kolkata tomorrow,” Das said.