As the country grapples with the second of COVID-19 and citizens scramble around for medical oxygen for their loved ones, one man from Mumbai stands out for his selfless undertaking to supply oxygen cylinders to those in dire need of it.
Shahnawaz Shaikh, who is known as ‘Oxygen Man’ in his locality, has gone above and beyond to help people at a time when the country is facing an acute shortage of medical oxygen for COVID-19 patients. Last year, when the first wave of the pandemic was still wreaking havoc in India, Shaikh was propelled to swing into action when someone close to his friend had passed away due to lack of oxygen.
He sold his prized Rs 22 lakh Ford Endeavour to raise enough money to procure oxygen cylinders and help those who needed it. Since then, Shaikh has tirelessly worked to help as many people as he can by supplying oxygen cylinders free of cost.
Unity & Dignity Foundation, an initiative he started last year, has received much praise on social media for its noble actions during the country’s worst health crisis.
Shaikh has said that material possessions, including his SUV, can be bought again. He highlighted that helping other people who are desperately in need of medicines and oxygen was more important.
So far, his team has helped over 4,000 people obtain necessary medicines and oxygen cylinders.
Shaikh revealed that the present situation is much worse than last year, adding that he gets 500 to 600 calls now compared to last year when he received around 50 calls asking for oxygen cylinders.
On Friday, India reported a new record high of 3.32 lakh COVID-19 cases and 2,263 deaths in the last 24 hours.
