75-year-old travels 300 km to render help to Covid-affected family

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<strong>Proving that age has nothing to do with the will to help others, a 75-year-old man from Odisha travelled nearly 300 kilometres to reach out to a family in distress! Meet Madhusudan Patra, from Odisha’s Ganjam who took to his moped to travel to Jagatsinghpur, in order to assist a family, who needed assistance to tide over their miseries.</strong></p>
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Patra came as messiah for this family at their hour of need as he came to know from local media about how an elderly woman, whose husband Gandharba Jena, had gone missing. Jena was the sole breadwinner for the family.</p>
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Not that Patra is a rich man, as he owns some land in his Ganjam village and has no children. Yet, he has always been on the forefront of lending a helping hand to those in need, without worrying about his limited resources, especially during the ongoing second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.</p>
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Gathering from the local media about the suffering of Jena’s family, Patra didn’t think twice and was determined to do his bit for them. In a matter of days, he managed to put together Rs.10,000 for them. It is then he packed food, fruits and water for them, and started for the long journey ahead to Jagatsinghpur district.</p>
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Amazingly, the senior citizen halted only twice during a trip which took him 10 hours to reach Jena’s thatched hut home. For Shanti, wife of Jena, it was an absolute miracle. When she received material help from Patra, she and her daughter started crying.</p>
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Incidentally, Jena was afflicted by Coronavirus and was admitted in Cuttack’s SCB Medical College and Hospital. He went missing from there. His family, on reaching the hospital, could not locate him, and since then have been running around to trace him.</p>
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By weaving bamboo baskets and selling them, Jena eked out his livelihood and all his savings had finished during the lockdown due to Covid-19. With him missing, the family struggled as he was the sole breadwinner.</p>
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Patra’s help was absolutely timely for them. <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/guwahati/story/75-year-old-odisha-man-messiah-family-woman-husband-missing-1822792-2021-07-02">Shanti told India Today that it was a great gesture</a> from Patra and prayed for his long life. "He assured me and told me that my husband would come back. He also told me not to cry and gave me Rs.10,000,” she said.</p>
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After spending a night with Jena’s family, Patra left for Ganjam.</p>
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While Jena’s daughter referred to him as a messiah, Patra told India Today: "I wanted to help them financially by reaching out to them. Driving 300 kilometres is not a big deal if you want to help someone."</p>