Watching the harrowing news items from India has made us realise that our COVID experience was not to this extreme. Reflecting on our own experiences which seemed very harsh at the time clearly pails into insignificance compared to our Indian colleagues and the Indian public. The anxiety of running out of Oxygen was merely a threat which caused great anxiety. Without Oxygen a lot of our patients would have died. We at least had the privacy of mobile cold storage at the peak of our crisis in the UK and our Indian counterparts don't even have that. Seeing the impromptu expansion of funeral pyres into car parks and other public spaces has motivated our team here at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to try and help.

On Saturday 1st May 2021 the Chronic Pain Unit at Maidstone Hospital is going to host a "Pedalathon" where a relay of staff will ride a spin bike continuously for 24 hours. We invite any sponsorship or donations to aid this worthy cause to help our Indian colleagues during this most challenging of times.