India is gasping for air

We are trying to help those suffering from COVID-19 in India, but volunteer work alone cannot get us out of this crisis.

“I can give you one vial for Rs 15,000 ($200),” said the man on the phone, after I reassured him that I was not an undercover cop. He was the fifth person I called asking to buy Remdesivir – an anti-viral drug widely used in the treatment of COVID-19. I never imagined turning to the black market to buy coronavirus medicine, but my mother was battling the deadly disease in a hospital in Pune, India and I was desperate. I knew it was up to me to get my mother the treatment she desperately needs, even though I was in Mumbai, some 150km away from her. My ordeal started on April 9, on my brother’s 30th birthday. When I called to give him my best wishes, he answered in a panic.