he father of the young Sri Lankan doctor who succumbed to COVID-19 recently has commenced a campaign to secure extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines, which is vital for the treatment of Covid infected individuals in a serious condition.

Dr. Gayan Danthanarayana passed away while receiving treatment at the intensive care unit of the Karapitiya hospital on Tuesday (02), becoming the first health worker in Sri Lanka to die of COVID-19.

He was transferred to the Karapitiya hospital to obtain treatment via the ECMO machine due to certain health complications.

His father, Dr. Y. Saranatileke speaking to Hiru TV said there are only two ECMO machines in Sri Lanka, and it is found at the Lady Ridgeway and Karapitiya Hospitals.

Stating that no other main Government hospitals in the country contain the machine, Dr. Saranatileke said he will work towards obtaining the ECMO machine in order to prevent the deaths of more people in Sri Lanka due to COVID-19.

“We can’t allow people to die due to a lack of these machines. Rs 10 million is not big money, and the public are ready to donate money for this,” he said.