Fund oxygen concentrators for COVID crisis - India
Donation protected
I am Bala Kalimuthu, living in Australia, since 2003. I live in Point Cook, Victoria with my wife and twin boys (9 years old). I work as Head of Enterprise Testing, QA & Engineering at Ampion (www.ampion.com.au).
My mum lived with my sister in India. She fell sick on 7th May 2021. The Oxygen cylinder at home ran out on 10th May 2021. There was no replacement cylinder available in Madurai and surrounding towns. I was on video call with my sister. It was very painful to watch my mum suffer gasping for air.
There was no hospital bed available with oxygen support. With Himalayan efforts, Oxygen concentrator was rented and within 5 hours. Took 12 hours to place an order to buy Oxygen concentrator. Since we had organised our own Oxygen concentrator, a hospital gave us a Non 02 bed in 24 hours. But it was too late. I lost my mum.
While I wish no other son or daughter to see their mum suffering without oxygen, I realise that 1000s of families are going through this pain every day in India now. While I am suffering this much with my blessed financial status and very good network of colleagues and friends, I am unable to imagine the sufferings of COVID affected families, who are below the poverty line .
While I could not do much to save my mum’s life, I may be able to help others who are suffering from similar circumstances. I started working with my friends, Social Workers and NGOs to lend Oxygen concentrators for free (on a returnable basis) as a charitable support to the needy, who cannot afford to buy or rent. This Oxygen support goes to the COVID affected patients, who are below the poverty line and suffering during this lock down. Our machines have already started the service in Madurai, Chennai, and Bangalore.
Alex Rea, my manager at work encouraged me to set up this GoFundMe campaign to reach out to our wider friends and colleagues, who may want to join hands with us to fund more Oxygen concentrators to save more lives in India. We have set a small initial goal of $10,000, which was achieved within 24 hours by generous donors like you. With this funding, we have donated Oxygen Concentrators to BODI (Bodinayakanur) Government General Hospital, which treats 1000s patients from surrounding villages and mountain tribal communities. We have also started serving patients around Palugal ( a town in Tamilnadu) and Parasala (a town in Kerala). We continue to welcome any contribution to this campaign, as your kind hearted support will help us sponsor more machines, cover more cities and save more lives in India.
We have joined hands with ‘Accelerate India Foundation Trust’ in Bangalore, ‘Virutcham Healthcare’ in Madurai, S Lijiraj (Qualified Social Worker) in Palugal, Varindhar Singh (Volunteer -Social Worker) at Chennai, who are managing the Oxygen machines in their respective cities and delivering the services to the patients in need. They are organising pick up / delivery of the machines to homes or hospitals for free on a returnable basis and train the family / carers how to use the machine. They are also organising to collect the machines back, when patients finish using them. They deep clean the machines, replace the required accessories and deliver them to the next patient in need.
I am personally accountable for the money raised in this GoFundMe campaign . I am publishing the Tax invoices of the machines purchased to the contributors. I am also providing photo evidence of our services and acknowledgement received from the local media and government officials. Please check our updates section for details.
My mum lived with my sister in India. She fell sick on 7th May 2021. The Oxygen cylinder at home ran out on 10th May 2021. There was no replacement cylinder available in Madurai and surrounding towns. I was on video call with my sister. It was very painful to watch my mum suffer gasping for air.
There was no hospital bed available with oxygen support. With Himalayan efforts, Oxygen concentrator was rented and within 5 hours. Took 12 hours to place an order to buy Oxygen concentrator. Since we had organised our own Oxygen concentrator, a hospital gave us a Non 02 bed in 24 hours. But it was too late. I lost my mum.
While I wish no other son or daughter to see their mum suffering without oxygen, I realise that 1000s of families are going through this pain every day in India now. While I am suffering this much with my blessed financial status and very good network of colleagues and friends, I am unable to imagine the sufferings of COVID affected families, who are below the poverty line .
While I could not do much to save my mum’s life, I may be able to help others who are suffering from similar circumstances. I started working with my friends, Social Workers and NGOs to lend Oxygen concentrators for free (on a returnable basis) as a charitable support to the needy, who cannot afford to buy or rent. This Oxygen support goes to the COVID affected patients, who are below the poverty line and suffering during this lock down. Our machines have already started the service in Madurai, Chennai, and Bangalore.
Alex Rea, my manager at work encouraged me to set up this GoFundMe campaign to reach out to our wider friends and colleagues, who may want to join hands with us to fund more Oxygen concentrators to save more lives in India. We have set a small initial goal of $10,000, which was achieved within 24 hours by generous donors like you. With this funding, we have donated Oxygen Concentrators to BODI (Bodinayakanur) Government General Hospital, which treats 1000s patients from surrounding villages and mountain tribal communities. We have also started serving patients around Palugal ( a town in Tamilnadu) and Parasala (a town in Kerala). We continue to welcome any contribution to this campaign, as your kind hearted support will help us sponsor more machines, cover more cities and save more lives in India.
We have joined hands with ‘Accelerate India Foundation Trust’ in Bangalore, ‘Virutcham Healthcare’ in Madurai, S Lijiraj (Qualified Social Worker) in Palugal, Varindhar Singh (Volunteer -Social Worker) at Chennai, who are managing the Oxygen machines in their respective cities and delivering the services to the patients in need. They are organising pick up / delivery of the machines to homes or hospitals for free on a returnable basis and train the family / carers how to use the machine. They are also organising to collect the machines back, when patients finish using them. They deep clean the machines, replace the required accessories and deliver them to the next patient in need.
I am personally accountable for the money raised in this GoFundMe campaign . I am publishing the Tax invoices of the machines purchased to the contributors. I am also providing photo evidence of our services and acknowledgement received from the local media and government officials. Please check our updates section for details.
Organizer
Balamurugan Kalimuthu
Organizer
Cocoroc, VIC