Good deed turns sour for this Samaritan

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Good deed turns sour for this Samaritan

RADHA SHARMA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2005 11:02:04 PM ]

AHMEDABAD: Dileep hasn't eaten in 36 hours. All he does is stare at

the nail marks left on his arms by a woman before she died on

Tuesday.

His wife can do little but watch him swing between moments of

agitation and despair.

Late on Monday, Dileep rushed a woman in his neighbourhood to

hospital when she was having convulsions.

He stood by her side for over two hours, holding her hand, bleeding

from repeated punctures caused by IV needles.

Every inch a good Samaritan, he did not mind the bruises he suffered

when the woman, writhing in pain, clawed his arms, at least, till he

found out that she was HIV positive.

What hurts Dileep no end is when he thinks about the woman's family

members who were using gloves while handling her and did not care to

warn him. " I'm not bothered about why I helped the lady.

But why didn't the family tell me she was HIV positive, " Dileep, a

resident of the Dilli Darwaja area of Ahmedabad with wife and two

children, said.

The woman, who was admitted to Civil Hospital, died on Tuesday

morning.

" Ever since I came to know from the nurse that I should handle the

patient with care since she was HIV positive, I could not think

about anything else, " Dileep, who works as an assistant in a cloth

shop, said.

He has visited experts at the VS and Civil hospitals seeking

guidance. Dileep is now being helped by a local NGO, Quality Circle

(QC).

Bharat Kinariwala of QC said: " The woman and her husband had

registered with us and we used to help them get the anti-retroviral

therapy for HIV infection. "

The NGO directed Dileep to a doctor who advised him to take a

combination of three drugs for a month to protect against the virus.

Doctors advise prophylactic treatment within four hours of

such 'accidents'.

" In this case, one is not really sure if there was any blood-to-

blood contact.

Usually, the chance of contracting HIV is 3 in 1,000 cases where

there is blood-to-blood contact, " says HIV specialist Narendra Shah.

According to Ahmedabad AIDS Control Society director Dr Laxman

Malodiya, the law prohibits anyone, except the patient, from

disclosing the HIV status of a person.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1106860.cms