Father pedals 300 km during Covid-19 to get medicines for his son

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<strong>A parent can go to any end for his/her child. Faced with the adverse circumstances of lockdown and restrictions, arising from the ongoing pandemic Covid-19, Anand, pedalled more than 300 kilometres from his village Ganiganakoppalu to Bengaluru to get life-saving medicines for his 10-year-old specially abled son.</strong></p>
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The complete lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus brought in its wake suspension of public transport. This coupled with Anand’s inability to book private vehicle due to lack of money, and the urgency to get the medicine for his son – who suffers from a chronic neurological disorder — made him decide to pedal to Bengaluru.</p>
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The 45-year-old Anand had even tried pleading with his friends and others to lend him a two-wheeler but they all refused as they were afraid that the police may seize the vehicle on the charges of violating the lockdown norms.</p>
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A daily-wage worker, Anand, took the challenge as he cycled all his way from his tiny village in Mysuru. He pedalled for over 130-140 km to reach Bengaluru from his village and collected the medicine from the NIMHANS in the city. In all he rode for 300 km on his rickety bike for four days. Ganiganakoppalu is about 30 km from Mysuru.</p>
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With his son diagnosed with the ailment, Anand has been going to NIMHANS as they provide the tablets free of cost. The medicine is very important as the doctors had advised him not to miss even a single dose as any disruption could set back the treatment plan by years.</p>
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Talking to New Indian Express, Anand said: “Doctors had assured that if my son takes the medicine without miss till he turns 18, he will be normal like any other person. So without any second thought, I decided to take this simple mission.”</p>
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The mission was not just important but necessary as Anand did not want a break in the medication. “He was diagnosed with this problem when he was six months old and since then over the last 10 years, I have never missed getting him the required medicine. As we get this medicine only from NIMHANS in Bengaluru for free of cost, I would get them from there every two months once,” he said.</p>
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With the tablets scheduled to finish on Wednesday, Anand took off on Sunday (May 23) at 3 a.m. and chose the Kanakapura route for his journey to Bengaluru and back. “The tablets would have exhausted by Wednesday, so I started my journey on Sunday, reached there by night and slept near a temple. I collected the tablet the next day from the hospital and returned back by Tuesday.”</p>
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Anand for the sake of his son pedalled in the scorching sun and got drenched due to heavy rain while returning. Crossing the district borders he was stopped by police and had to even go hungry as he had no money.</p>
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But at the end of the day it was worth it as he reached before the deadline to ensure the medication continued!</p>