of fever and tested positive for COVID. The family took care of them at home for some days, purchasing an oximeter and administering medicine. The twin brothers were taken to hospital on May 1 as their condition deteriorated. After the treatment, the family was glad as both tested negative for Covid on May 10. But, three days later, when the private Anand hospital informed them that their son Joefred died of Covid on May 13, their entire world came crashing down around them.
Ralphred from the hospital called his elder brother Nelfred to wish him on his birthday and also inquired about his twin. His mother told him that Joefred was transferred to a Delhi hospital. He weakly replied, “Ma, you are lying”. The following day, he died. Mr Raphael said, “Three days later, our world came crashing… When Joefred died, I had a sixth sense that Ralphred would not make it. Simply because they were inseparable”.
Last week, the twins died just hours apart in a hospital in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Mr Raphael expressed extreme pain over his sons’ death. He said, “Our family is broken. Covid took away my sons who had never harmed anyone in their entire lives”. Sumit told the media that the twins’ parents are shattered. He said, “Their father is broken and very unwell and their mother has somehow kept herself strong for his sake”. The death of the twin brothers is one of the most heartbreaking stories of India’s extreme second wave of the pandemic which has witnessed several people dying from lack of oxygen.
