India Covid: Cheshire man 'desperate' to fund parents' treatment

Veronica and Stephen Rose are being treated in hospital in Pune, West India

A man whose parents are ill with Covid in India said he is "desperate to raise money" for their treatment after a doctor said he "needs a miracle".

Vernon Rose, 33, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, has spent more than £7000 on hospital fees for his parents' treatment in Pune, West India.

A second wave of the virus is ravaging parts of India, pushing the death toll to more than 200,000.

Mr Rose, who lost his job in 2020, said he had "exhausted all of his funds".

He has been wiring money to Shree Samarth Hospital where his mother, Veronica Rose, 57, is in a critical condition.

He was told on Thursday that his father, Stephen Rose, 59, was "out of the danger zone" but will need constant care and oxygen for 10 days in the hospital's recovery ward.

'Very aggressive'

Mr Rose said the doctor who is treating his parents told him: "Look, just be positive and pray - because this needs a miracle."

Dr Sunil Kalashetty also told him the variant of the virus in India was "unlike anything we have seen before, very aggressive and evolving at a dangerous pace".

On Friday, 386,452 cases were reported - the biggest one-day increase on record for any country.

Mr Rose said his father, Stephen, will need constant care and oxygen for 10 days

Mr Rose said the ventilator his mother was using costs around £230 a day.

He did not want to start a crowdfunding page but "I am desperate, I am in a corner," he said.

He said: "We don't want to give the impression that we are crying poverty but want to send a positive message of hope to everyone struggling."

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