Dubai, March 27

A critically ill Indian man who suffered multi-organ failure following a severe lung infection and had mounting hospital bills was airlifted on Tuesday to New Delhi after the Indian community came out in his support.

Surrender Khanna, 66, who hails from Punjab, was rushed to hospital after he complained of acute breathlessness on March 15, the next morning after he arrived in Dubai with his wife.

Khanna's son Anubhav did not avail any travel or medical insurance for his parents and had unpaid hospital bills mounting to over Rs 18,00,000.

The Consulate General of India (CGI) in Dubai thanked the Indian community and doctors for coming out in support of the family that had surging bills of over lakhs of rupees in a hospital here.

"CGI Dubai expresses it's sincere gratitude to doctors, NMC Hospital, Indian community philanthropists and family members of Sh Surrender Khanna, a critical patient, who has just left Dubai to India by air ambulance..it showed that together we can..we pray for his speedy recovery," it said in a tweet on Tuesday.

According to Khaleej Times newspaper, the Indian Consulate in Dubai mobilised the Indian community to help the family.

Several businessmen pitched in with funds which helped Anubhav to arrange for a better-equipped charter plane ambulance for his ailing father and flew out to New Delhi with his mother where arrangements for his father's treatment were made.

The private hospital in Dubai, where Khanna was treated, had stopped the billing cycle for a couple of days and extended the period of payment.

"I have never seen a private hospital being generous to the extent of stopping the billing cycle after those initial few days," Anubhav was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Khanna had developed breathlessness a day after he arrived here and was rushed to hospital. Doctors diagnosed it to be a severe lung infection and his limbs began getting discoloured.

The growing infection affected Khanna's left hand which had to be amputated. — PTI