Nepalese men in personal protective suits cremate the bodies of Covid-19 victims near Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo / Niranjan Shrestha, AP
Nepalese men in personal protective suits cremate the bodies of Covid-19 victims near Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo / Niranjan Shrestha, AP
Opinion
OPINION
We have all heard about the disaster unfolding in India and now Nepal from the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a story of loss of life and terrible distress to millions of people. Nothing sums this up better than a personal story.
The following letter comes from the accountant at the Himalayan Trust office in Kathmandu. Baween Tendukar worked for my father, Sir Edmund Hillary, and now works for me at our Himalayan Trust office. His family has been horribly affected by the spread of the disease there.
Dear Peter, Thank you for your email. It was a very sad time indeed. It all happened suddenly. My mother was living with my brother and unfortunately all 4 members, my brother, his wife, my father and mother were at home with mild symptoms of Covid.
The extended family of Baween Tandukar before the Covid pandemic brought tragedy. Photo / Supplied
Her condition deteriorated suddenly and she was taken to a hospital. She had to be transferred to the ICU of a different hospital but after two days the hospital told us that she needed a ventilator and they couldn't do anything more.
We found a hospital with a ventilator but unfortunately she left us somewhere during the transfer. All we could do was get her body out of the ambulance.
Also we had to wait for another day for the Nepalese army to transfer her to Pashupatinath. All the Covid patient bodies are handled by Nepalese Army from the hospital till the final cremation.
We were only allowed to offer some flowers from a distance, when the body (sealed in a plastic body bag) was placed near the gate of the crematorium at Pashupatinath.
A family member pays his last tribute to bodies of Covid-19 victims before cremation near Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu. Photo / Niranjan Shrestha, AP
The same day my mother died, I had to move my cousin, who is only 34 years old and an only child, to a hospital ICU nearby Boudhanath due to the bed and oxygen shortage in Patan Hospital. My cousin is very close to me and it was unbearably painful to watch him suffer.
His struggle ended in the next five days with a trip to Pashupatinath in army transport.
Although I had just recovered from Covid myself and had not regained strength, I had to take care of three families and the rituals afterwards, as most of the relatives whom I could rely on were all sick and remained isolated due to lockdown.
This is too much to bear in two weeks.
Himalayan Trust accountant Baween Tandukar worked for Sir Edmund Hillary and now works with Peter Hillary. Photo / Supplied
I started to work last Sunday but yesterday I had to attend the funeral of my father-in-law's sister.
I hope this is the last bit of bad news for my family and all my further communications will be joyful and stories of success and happiness.
I am very glad and feel fortunate that my father, my brother, his wife and all other close relatives have recovered now.
Thank you for your kind thoughts and support. Stay safe, Namaste, Baween Tendukar.
Help us support people in Nepal and up in the Solu Khumbu in the Mt Everest area during these terrible times. To do this, go to the Himalayan Trust website www.himalayantrust.org or to A Fiver for Ed campaign for Everest Day on May 29 - the anniversary of the first ascent.
• Peter Hillary is the son of Sir Edmund Hillary and chair of the Himalayan Trust.
