A 19-year-old international student from India, currently recovering from an aggressive tuberculosis is desperately looking for an accommodation.
Eknoor Singh’s health began to deteriorate before he was hospitalized on 4th April. He was diagnosed with MDR (Multi-drug resistant) TB and remained in the hospital for nearly four months. His medical condition worsened to the extent that he had to spend many days in the ICU.
While Mr Singh was fighting for his life in the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, he says the young couple with whom he shared a rental house told him they didn’t want to live with him.
“They packed my stuff and left it at a relative’s place because they feared I was suffering from a contagious disease,” Mr Singh tells SBS Punjabi.* (Please note this story has been updated - we've now included the statement given by the couple Eknoor stayed with. To read it, please click on the link below)
Having no family support in Melbourne, Mr Singh was alone in the hospital for over a month before his sister appealed for help from the local Sikh temples via email.
“He was all alone, physically as well as emotionally and he was very sick. And then some families came forward to help him, with food and clothes and anything that he needed. They took care of him until we [Mrs Kaur and her husband] arrived,” Mr Singh’s mother Kulwinder Kaur told SBS Punjabi.
Mrs Kaur and her husband came to Melbourne two months ago to take care of their ailing son who is now recuperating. A local family offered their unit to them for three months which they will vacate in the next few days and are now looking for an alternate accommodation.
“We ourselves our financially constrained and are very thankful to the family for helping us in our hour of need. They need the unit back for some reason and we are hoping we can get another accommodation- even a single room so that I can spend some more time with my son to take care of him until his health is normal again,” Mrs Kaur said.
“I am hoping someone comes forward again to help us.”
Due to his illness, Eknoor Singh hasn’t been able to work or study for the past several months and the last semester of his Automotive Diploma had to be deferred.
His parents are also thankful to the Monash Medical Centre that has decided to waive off his medical expenses after his private insurance refused to cover his treatment.
“There was a daily expense of $1800 and the private insurance covered next to nothing. But the doctors told us not to worry and the whole thing has been taken care of now,” said Mrs Kaur.
A community organisation Sikh Helpline Australia has issued an appeal for financial assistance for Mr Singh.
