Update Mrs Coralie DeMellow – Sept 17th 2012

Dear All,
Mrs DeMellow was hospitalised in August, 2012 after a pelvic injury and was operated upon by Dr Pradeep Sharma, an eminent surgeon, at the Holy Family Hospital. She continues to make excellent progress. She is now able to stand and walk around with a bit of support.
There is now compelling pressure from the Hospital, though one must compliment them for their compassion, to effect her early discharge lest she contract a hospital infection. Mr Ishwar Bhatia, her principal care giver, family friend and guardian has been frantically trying to find an old age home for Mrs DeMellow. He is of the opinion that she can no longer live by herself even with the support of staff since she needs full time medical assistance. She needs greater support and has now finally reconciled to an idea that she had resisted for far too long.
We had, through the kind assistance of Mrs Harmala Gupta (CanSupport), obtained the option of the Grant Govan Home in Old Delhi. However, that place, built in 1940, for Anglo-Indians will not serve Mrs DeMellow’s needs sufficiently though the option remains open until a better alternative can be found. One possibility being pursued is an old age home in Dwarka. Unfortunately, that possibility is taking time to fructify and there is now an urgency in finding a suitable place for Mrs DeMellow. If any OC is aware of any old age home for a patient whose is 96, then please do not fail to respond. My thanks.
I am sending, as an attachment to this mail, the statement of funds for the benefit of Mrs DeMellow. The statement records the list of donors (and to whom they sent in their amounts). Any amounts sent directly to the OCA are not reflected since they have not been credited to this account so far. For your information, we have paid a monthly amount of Rs 10,000 into Mrs DeMellow’s account from June to August this year. We have recently disbursed an amount of Rs 67,360 to Mr Ishwar Bhatia to reimburse him for the payments he has made to the Holy Family Hospital against the bills generated. Copies of these bills were made available to us.
By the time Mrs DeMellow is discharged from hospital, which we hope will be soon, her total hospitalisation will cost approximately Rs 80,000 – 85,000, provided she does not undergo any additional procedures. These details are for your information and should any body require further information as to the deployment of these funds, please do not hesitate to write to me.
In the meanwhile, we would welcome any further contributions from good hearted Samaritans. There is never a shortage of these but I want to make sure that we have enough funds to sustain a woman who is tough and determined. God bless her!! She is hardened but she is lovable as well and needs all the support that she can get. I think she is also lucky to have linkages with an organisation such as the OCA. We are committed. We believe that Melville, if he were alive, would have done just the same for this fraternity and its members. We owe it to his memory and the spirit of the OCA to keep Mrs DeMellow alive and well till the end of her days. We will do our best.
I am beginning to like the Nike sign off  “Just Do It” but our motto “Overcome Evil With Good”  is more meaningful. It has more depth and it has staying power. I wish there was a way to combine the former with the latter. Actually, have we not done that with this effort ? I have only you all to thank for your support and it encourages us to do more !!
My kind regards
Sincerely,
B M Singh
President – OCA India

One thought on “Update Mrs Coralie DeMellow – Sept 17th 2012

  1. Editor Post author

    Message posted on behalf Mr. I.L. Bhatia:
    Dear all,

    Latest update on Mrs. deMellow. I met her in the hospital this morning. She appeared to be in poor shape. Was sitting on a chair and waiting for Nurses to shift her to the bed. They took their own time to come and shift her to the bed. Despite her weak and frail body and much less weight, it needed a Doctor and three Nurses to complete the process which took almost ten minutes to complete! She looked totally exhausted and frustrated and was complaining of being badly look after and wanted to be moved out of the hospital immediately which could be on account of her frustration! When I asked where, she said anywhere but she cannot go to her flat as it will be impossible for her to manage at home.

    Soon after my arrival, I was asked by the Nurse on duty to meet Mr. Vijay Sharma whom I met. He again repeated the same dialogue of her getting discharged from the hospital immediately. He also said that Mr. Vijay Khurana had also spoken to him and asked him to let her continue in the hospital for some more time, but since the hospital rules do not permit her staying there, he is requesting for her immediate discharge. I did tell him that since all the expenses of the hospital till date have been cleared including the balance of around Rs. 20000/- which was paid this morning and admission in the Age Old Home has not materialized, the hospital authorities should not have any problems in keeping her till at least she is able to stand on her own and take a few steps with the help of a walker keeping in view the peculiar circumstances in which she is placed particularly when there is no one in Delhi to look after her. However he kept insisting on her discharge.

    Since many of you are influential guys with high contacts including possibly contacts in the media, some of you can through your contacts request the hospital Director not to insist on her discharge till such time she recovers fully with a further request that hospital nurses could be little more caring in her case. Anglo Indian representatives and the bodies representing the community could also be contacted and requested to talk to the hospital Director for her continued treatment in the hospital till such time she recovers fully and their bills are being paid. I do hope some of you would pull your weight in this regard and request the Hospital Director to be more kind and compassionate towards her as they have all the facilities which are not available anywhere else and also help in getting her admitted in an Age Old Home which have all the facilities!

    With regards and best wishes,
    IL Bhatia

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