“How can we tell the children that their father has died? said Dr Moyeen’s younger sister Sabira Khatun.
Talking to UNB over phone, she said Moyeen’s widow and the head of Physiology department at Parkview Medical College, Sylhet, Prof Dr Choudhury Rifat Jahan, told her two sons that their father has been receiving treatment at a hospital in Dhaka and would reunite with them as soon as he recovers.
Sabira, an assistant teacher at a Suajatpur Government Primary School in Sylhet, said the doctor’s two sons -- Ziad, 11, and Zayan, 7, -- are anxiously waiting to see their father. “Their mother is trying to stay strong so that the two boys don’t get upset knowing the tragic news. They’ll ultimately know the cruel fact, but they should get prepared to take such a mental pressure,” she said.
Sabira and her husband M Khosruzzaman, an instructor at Primary Teachers’ Training Institute, Sunamganj, shared with UNB many unknown things about Dr Moyeen for whom they feel proud as he embraced the death trying to save the lives of others.
How Dr Moyeen got infected and died
Khosruzzaman said Moyeen was sent to Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital’s corona unity in the city from the SOMCH on deputation.
He treated there many patients having various symptoms of the deadly coronavirus for a few days until March 28 using only a mask as he had no other protective gears.
“He had started feeling unwell on March 29 and then gone to self-quarantine at his house in Sylhet’s Housing Estate area as he suspected he might contract the virus from any patient...he started suffering from fever on March 30 and it was not improving. Three days later, he developed some other coronavirus symptoms such as cold, cough, sneezing and throat pain,” said Khosru.
As Moyeen informed his collogues about his condition, he said the doctor’s sample was collected on April 4 and sent it to Dhaka for lab test. “His report was found the following day confirming that he was infected with Covid-19.”
A couple of days later, Khosru said Moyeen’s condition deteriorated as he developed respiratory problem and low pressure, and then he was taken to the ICU of Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital’s corona unity at night on April 7.
His wife, Dr Rifat, contacted the authorities of SOMCH and the local health department office seeking help to take him either to the SOMCH’s ICU or any hospital in Dhaka as there was no specialist at Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital to operate a ventilator.
After facing various difficulties in shifting him to SOMCH ICU and managing an air ambulance, Khosru said Dr Rifat hired a private ambulance and left Sylhet with Moyeen around 5:30pm for Dhaka on Aril 8.
“Dr Moyeen was admitted to Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka around 10:30pm. He was kept in the ICU bed and was getting good care as there was his classmates from Dhaka Medical College, colleagues and even students and his condition was improving with the support of oxygen. He was also taking food and talking to all normally until April 13,” he said.
“But his condition deteriorated on April 14 and he was put on life support. Finally, we received the bad news in the morning on April 15. Bhabi was also there at the Kurmitola Hospital, though she was not allowed to come close to her husband. She returned to Sylhet the same day and she is now looking after the children hiding her pain and agony,” he added.
Dr Moyeen’s unfulfilled dreams
Sabira said her brother had a dream of setting up a hospital at his native village Nadampur of Chhatak upazila in Sunamganj to serve the people of his area and ensure better treatment for them.
“My brother used say his life will be successful as a physician if he can set up a hospital at his own village. He was taking preparations to that end so that he can serve the people of his own locality,” she said.
Sabira said Dr Moyeen used to go to his village home every Friday and provide free medical treatment to villagers, mainly the poor. “He had a chamber-cum-meeting room in front of our home where people used to come to consult him.”
Khosru said Dr Moyeen had a piece of land in Sylhet City where he had a dream of building his own house and a chamber as he did know little that his life was going to cut short.
He said the late doctor had performed umrah already. “But he had a wish to perform hajj this year in favour of his late mother.”
Khosru also said Moyeen had a wish that at least one of his sons would become a doctor and serve people like him and his wife.
A good friend of patients
“Dr Moyeen was a very dedicated and sincere physician—a very good friend of patients. He didn’t think of his own safety when coronavirus hit the country …he used to rush to hospital even at the dead of night. He was very popular among patients in Sylhet,” said Mohammad Mohsin, a local journalist.
Mohsin said Moyeen used to treat poor patients free of cost and even buy medicines for those who could not afford that.”
A student of Dhaka Medical College, Moyeen was a specialist of medicine and heart diseases. He was the county’s first doctor who died from coronavirus on Wednesday.
He was laid to eternal rest at Nadampur village of Chhatak upazila in Sunamganj.