NE NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, DEC 6
A month shy of 100, Bhabatarini Samanta had to battle the deadliest of foes in the path of her becoming a centenarian – the coronavirus. And, she managed to get the better of it, stunning doctors and family members alike.
Samanta, at 99 years and 11 months, was admitted to a designated Covid-19 hospital in Fuleswar area on November 24 with fever and breathing trouble.
Subhasis Mitra, director of the hospital, said she had numerous complications, and a medical team had to be set up to assess her health condition.
“With time and care, she started recovering. We are delighted that we could make her free from COVID-19 and send her home in time for the 100th birthday, which is just a few days away,” he said.
As a farewell gesture to the elderly woman, doctors, nurses, and other staff of the hospital sang songs, gave her flowers and sweets before she boarded an ambulance to depart for home on Saturday.
Mitra also said that so far, around 4,000 Covid-19 patients have been admitted to the hospital, and of them, 3,700 recovered.
A similar incident was reported in the United States last week.
An Alabama man who spent World War II repairing bomb-damaged trains in France recovered from a fight with COVID-19 in time to mark his 104th birthday on Thursday. Major Wooten was physically drained and a little fuzzy mentally after battling the new coronavirus but appears to be on the mend, said granddaughter Holley Wooten McDonald.
“I’m just thankful that they were able to treat him so quickly and we were able to get him tested,” said McDonald, adding: “It’s amazing that a 104-year-old survived COVID.”
Madison Hospital shared a video of Wooten wearing a face mask and waving while workers sang “Happy birthday dear Pop Pop” as he was discharged in a wheelchair decorated with balloons on Tuesday, two days before his actual birthday.
McDonald said her grandfather, who served as a private first class in the Army before going on to a postwar career with US Steel in Birmingham, tested positive for COVID-19 on November 23 after her mother — his daughter — got the illness.
He received an infusion of the newly approved monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab but was physically drained the next day and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance the day before Thanksgiving, she said.
