Quarantined Kerala Man Watches Father’s Last Rites From Window

Lino Abel is the hero we need.

Lino Abel attends father’s last rites from afar.

(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

The coronavirus pandemic has given the world a lot to remember. With over 6,000 deaths worldwide, there’s panic everywhere. For the first time in a while, real life feels more morbid than the fictionalised dystopian setups we’ve been fed by pop culture.

Recently, a 30-year-old man, Lino Abel, had no choice but to watch his father’s last rites through the window on his medical college in Kerala, where he is currently in quarantine. Separated by circumstances and responsibility towards the lives of others, he watched helplessly as his father’s body was taken home for the last rites.

Abel had travelled back from Qatar on 8 March. He showed some mild symptoms and did what was expected of him: he immediately reported himself to medical authorities. He was then quarantined in an isolation ward of the medical college in Kottayam.

In the same hospital, Abel's father, who suffered a stroke on 9 March, was admitted and later passed away. Despite, being in the same hospital, Abel could not see his father one last time. As the ambulance carried his father's body, he took one last glimpse from the window of his room and made peace with the situation.

He later took to Facebook to express his grief and how he managed to pull through it.

“If I had not reported myself, I could’ve seen my dad for one last time. But I did not, because I decided not to spread the disease in case I was affected. The experts here said, ‘please report to the health authorities. If you can spare a few days, you can spend the rest of your time happily with your family’... Isolation ward is not a concentration camp.

Lino Abel

Abel's brave decision to quarantine himself despite his personal loss compelled the Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to respond. The latter wrote,

It was an extremely sad situation. The youth travelled all the way to visit his father at hospital. Though he reached here, he was unable to meet his father. He showed exemplary courage and social commitment and responsibility by getting quarantined on his own.

Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala CM

Meanwhile, Abel's blood test results have turned out to be negative and he will be returning to his home in Thodupuzha in Idukki district of Kerala soon.

I guess, not all heroes wear capes.