Her age may have posed a challenge but 100-year-old Mai Handique’s battle against COVID-19 was won by her positivity, doctors said on Thursday.
Handique, Assam’s oldest COVID-19 patient, was discharged from the Mahendra Mohan Chowdhury Hospital (MMCH) in Guwahati on Wednesday, they said.
A resident of the Mothers’ adulthood Home, she was admitted to the hospital ten days ago after testing COVID- positive.
The doctors and nurses who were treating her held alittle celebration before she was discharged. Handique, who was beaming excitedly , joined the party singing several Assamese songs in her full-throated voice.
Handique, called Aita (grandma) by all at the hospital, told reporters that she enjoyed her stay and therefore the food.
“We got fish or meat on most of the times while egg and banana got daily. We were also given ‘ruti- bhaji’ (chappatis and vegetables) which I enjoyed the foremost ,” she said.
She also thanked all those that treated her, saying, “The girls (the nurses) and therefore the doctors’ took excellent care.”
Handique also had a special word of praise for Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma — “He is doing very diligence for all folks and that i bless him to still help people that are affected by this disease.”
Sarma, too, wished her on the recovery.
“Steely resolve of 100-year old Mai Handique is monumental. With brilliant support of doctors at MMCH, she defeated coronavirus, giving us a lesson in having the proper will power,” he said.
A doctor treating Handique said, “Initially, we were worried thanks to her age and she or he also has hypertension, but she was always cheerful and during a positive frame of mind.”
Twelve residents of the Mothers’ adulthood Home are diagnosed with COVID-19 and five of them are discharged thus far.
