Here’s how friendship saved director Vasantabalan from Covid 19

Director Vasantabalan, who was receiving treatment at the Apollo hospital in Chennai for Covid 19 after his health condition deteriorated badly, has now recovered and returned home safe, after having been discharged from the hospital.

The director, who earlier penned an emotional post to director Lingusamy who had come to see him at the hospital risking his own life, today took time to pen another post in which he talked in detail of all those friends who had helped him cheat death and defeat Covid 19.

In an emotional post, which he wrote in Tamil on Facebook, Vasantabalan said, “I returned home last night like a sparrow that had broken free of all the chains of the hospital. Doctors have advised me that I can return to work after a month of complete rest.

“I will be failing in my duty if I do not remember and place on record the work done by some magnanimous souls who lent a friendly, helping hand to enable me to overcome a critical and dangerous period.

“Right from the first day that I was infected with Corona, I was given medical advice by Siddha doctor K Sivaraman.

“However, my fever did not come down as a result of my own decision to isolate myself at home instead of going to a hospital. I had made the decision to stay back at home, looking at the severity of the second wave and considering the fact that the hospitals were getting flooded with patients.

“Dr Sivaraman advised me to get admitted to a big hospital that had all facilities . However, considering my financial condition, I chose to get myself admitted to a small hospital near my home. Despite the best efforts of Child specialist Albert, my health condition began deteriorating day by day for a number of reasons that cannot be explained through words.

“Film producers JSK Sathish Kumar and T Siva kept warning me to get myself transferred to a bigger hospital.

“A CT scan taken that night showed that the infection in my lungs had increased and was much more severe than it had been at the time of getting admitted to the hospital. It showed that I was in a dangerous situation.

“My friend Varadhan sent that CT scan to Dr Sivaraman, who was rattled. The doctor warned Varadhan that it was an emergency and that every second being lost could prove to be dangerous to my life. He struggled and made every effort possible to get me an appropriate hospital and finally succeded in his mission. He got me a bed in the Apollo hospitals by getting in touch with senior IAS officers Radhakrishnan and Udhayachandran, who in turn put him in touch with Communicable diseases specialist Dr Ramasubramaniam from the Apollo Group. Dr Sivaraman managed to gain me admission by explaining the situation to Dr Ramasubramaniam.

“When my friend Varadhan told me early in the morning the attempts that were being made to shift me to Apollo, I pleaded, ‘Will we be able to afford Apollo? We all belong to the middle-class. Get me admitted to the Omandurar Government hospital.

“I was firmly told to shut my mouth and was duly admitted to Apollo.

“Dr Ramasubramaniam, who examined me, uttered the name of a life-saving drug and said that it was out of stock at the hospital. He advised my friend to somehow arrange for it from somewhere else within 24 hours as I was in a critical situation.

“Vardhan had to struggle again… He stretched out his hands in all possible directions. He sent out information to all the people listed as contacts on his phone that night. On the one hand, there was my guru, director Shankar sir, and director Lingusamy and on the other, producers JSK Sathish Kumar, T Siva, Madurai MP Su Venkatesan, actors Parthipan, Arjun Das, the list of friends trying to help was endless. All of them are dear to me.

“Through Dr Sivaraman’s relentless struggles and by the grace of Senior IAS officer Udhayachandran, the life-saving medicine arrived in the hospital in a matter of just five hours.

“Forty eight hours after the medicine was administered to my blood vessels, I came out of the critical state.

“Varadhan called and said, ‘You survived.’ I replied, ‘I know.’ He said, “The only reason you survived is Dr Sivaraman.

“I sent Dr Sivaraman a thank you message on What’s App. He thanked me back and said, ‘Balan, the manner in which your friend Varadhan struggled and roamed…. You are very fortunate to have a dear friend like him.’

“Varadhan has been my friend from college. He has been with me, right from my first film and stood by me through thick and thin. His contribution in my victories is immense. I put my mind at ease and took complete rest in the hospital, knowing fully well that Varadhan would take care of my health.

“I wasn’t the only one to be afflicted by Corona. My wife too tested positive. Her treatment too wa taken care of by my dear friend Varadhan, who also took good care of my two kids by isolating them and ensuring their safety and by sending them with my brother-in-law to Saathur.

“When I tell him, what do you want my dear friend? He replies,’Get up and come. There is work to do.’ You cannot search for dear friends. They come by themselves searching for a place in your heart. I am a very fortunate person for I am near one such heart.

“I am grateful to all the divine powers in all the directions. Thanks to friendly hands that have protected me with love like a pearl in an oyster shell, I have returned home in good health.”