Dambar Bahadur Simkhada, who sells vegetables to earn a living, says the lockdown has robbed him of his business and deprived him of any means to take his wife to the hospital.
A year ago, Dambar Bahadur Simkhada was working in Qatar while his wife Sita was taking care of their farm in Dhading’s Ganga Jamuna Rural Municipality.
Suddenly, both of Sita’s kidneys failed. She had diabetes and high blood pressure. Dambar was compelled to return to Nepal to take care of his wife.
“I was working in a good company in Qatar,” said 42-year-old Simkhada. “I had planned on returning to Qatar after Sita’s treatment.”
Dambar brought his wife to Kathmandu after doctors told him that she needed regular dialysis. The couple rented accommodations in Samakhushi, Kathmandu and Sita started to undergo free-of-cost treatment at a nearby dialysis centre.
The dialysis centre closed down when the government announced a nationwide lockdown. Dambar managed to get to Bir Hospital, after hearing that dialysis was available there. The hospital told him that he needed a referral from the Health Ministry.
He managed to get a referral and since then, has been taking his wife to Bir Hospital on a push cart.
“It has been two weeks since I started taking my wife to Bir Hospital,” Dambar said. “It is hard to get a taxi and even if you manage to get one, it’s not affordable.”
Dambar sells vegetables for a living and ever since the lockdown, he’s lost all business.
“This lockdown not only robbed me of my business, but it has also deprived me of any means to take my wife to the hospital,” he said.
