Life for a Child is currently supporting 50 young people with type 1 diabetes in Kota, a city in Rajasthan, India, cared for at the Ramchandani Diabetic Clinic. Puneet is one of them. He has been supported by Life for a Child for nearly 10 years. Here are some photos of Puneet through the years.
In May 2017, as part of Dr. Lisa Ameto’s visit to the Ramchandani Diabetic Clinic she also visited Puneet’s home. Pictured here from left to right are Raunak Ramchandani, Puneet (standing), Dr. Lisa Ameto and Dr. G. D. Ramchandani.
In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Kota, like many other cities across India is in a state of severe lockdown and curfews with whole communities are barricaded into “red zones”. Puneet lives deep in one of these zones and ran out of insulin and strips. He was completely cut off from accessing the essential supplies he relies on. Around the same time, a Life for a Child shipment of 2 months’ worth of insulin, stips, syringes, lancets, and also a new blood glucose monitor was received by Dr. Ramchandani’s clinic in Kota. However, due to lockdown restrictions, Puneet was unable to retrieve them.
With special permission from the local authorities, Dr. G. D. Ramchandani’s son, Raunak, travelled in scorching (47°C) heat across the locked-down city to the gates of Puneet’s zone. Under the supervision of armed guards, Raunak was able to pass the supplies through the barricade to Puneet.
Puneet has recently completed his NDEP Certificate course, making him a Certified Diabetes Educator. Puneet is an example of how children who receive support early and consistently in their diabetes journey, grow to give so much back to the type 1 community in their young adulthood. We are truly proud of Puneet and of our volunteers like Raunak, whose bravery and compassion have made a life-saving difference during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the global impacts of COVID-19, Life for a Child has teamed up with JDRF and over twenty other like-minded organizations to identify shortages of essential diabetes supplies and mobilise support from around the world. You can read more about the COVID-19 Diabetes Supplies Coalition here: COVID-19 Coalition, and about the work of our volunteers Vikasith and Dinuka in Sri Lanka here: Sri Lanka COVID-19 Response.
