Lucknow, Jul 7 (IANS): In a heart-warming gesture, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has sanctioned a sum of Rs 1.5 crore for the lung transplant of a resident doctor at the Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS).

Sharda Suman, 31, a resident doctor at the RMLIMS is battling for life for the past two months after Covid caused irreparable damage to both her lungs.

Suman, pursuing PG in gynaecology from the Institute, was eight-months pregnant when she had to be put on a ventilator after contracting a severe infection on April 14.

A C-section was done while she was on the vent support to save the baby. She gave birth to a baby girl who is said to be fine.

Chief Minister Adityanath, on Tuesday, declared that the government would take care of all her medical expenses.

It was four days ago that Suman's husband, Ajay Kumar, also a doctor who works in Bihar, met the chief minister and told him that the family was not in a position to bear the expense of lung transplant.

Kumar was accompanied by RMLIMS director Soniya Nityanand, chief medical superintendent Rajan Bhatnagar and medical superintendent Vikram Singh.

The chief minister immediately directed his medical officer on special duty to assess the situation and submit a report. After OSD visited the hospital and informed the chief minister about the situation, the amount of Rs 1.5 crore was sanctioned.

According to an RMLIMS officer, after getting infected in the line of duty, Suman remained in home isolation for five days.

After her condition aggravated, she was admitted to the Covid ward of the institute. However, her condition continued to deteriorate and her lungs stopped responding on May 1.

She was then put on ventilator support and an emergency C-section surgery was performed to save her baby's life. However, as the condition of the resident doctor did not improve, she was put on ECMO support. Her husband was informed that a lung transplant is the only hope now.

RMLIMS spokesperson Srikesh Singh said: "We are in constant touch with hospitals in Chennai and Bangalore where procedures would be performed. They will send a team to airlift her once a cadaveric donation is finalised. A green corridor would also be created from the hospital to the airport. Institute might also send a team to assist doctors of the transplant team."