‘Happu Ki Utan Paltan’ actress Ashna Kishore: Last year's illness has taught me to fight against odds and not give up

Ashna Kishore, who is currently seen as Kat or Katori Singh in the comedy show ‘Happu Ki Ultan Paltan’, thanks her fans and family for supporting her while she was fighting for her life in 2019. The actress said that she was diagnosed with Leptospirosis, commonly known as rat fever, and was in the hospital for over a month last year. Her condition had become so bad that the doctors even gave up on her at one point. “In 2019, while I was shooting for ‘Happu Ki Ultan Paltan’, I got this very rare disease, Leptospirosis, which mainly affects the organs. With that, I was also diagnosed with dengue and was suffering from food poisoning and dehydration. In two days, I lost almost 12kg. In fact, I was not eating for days. I was on oxygen for three days at the hospital. All of that happened so suddenly that even the doctors said it will be difficult to save me,” she says.'I was in a wheelchair last year. And I had become so weak that I couldn’t walk,' says AshnaTalking about her illness, Ashna says,“I was in a wheelchair at that time. And I had become so weak that I couldn’t walk. My parents helped me learn how to walk again like a baby. I even suffered memory loss. My immune system had become very weak at that time.” The memory of the incident still gives her a lot of pain, but she says, “Around same time last year, I fell ill and I am a little scared about shooting. But I want to make people happy with my show. It’s a great joy to put a smile on someone’s face and that keeps me going. When the lockdown was announced and we were at home for three months, that was the only break I got after I resumed work. I was a little apprehensive about resuming shoot right now, but I think the last year taught me how I can strongly overcome all hurdles and challenges. Mentally, I felt so low then, but my family helped me throughout, and also my fans, who kept asking about my health and enquiring when I will return on sets.”Mental health is key, says Ashna. The actress adds, “I want to say that you can beat anything if you keep yourself mentally strong. I remember there was a time when I had to take injections every day. I was in the hospital for a month, and there came a point when I was like, ‘I am done, I can’t do this’. And then I saw my mother, and I had never seen her like that. So it was my mom, my family, and my fans that kept me strong at that time. I felt that if I give up then, even they will also lose hope.”