Three of our interviewees told stories that are remarkably similar in their overall structure: a family member became seriously ill, and either no one with the capacity to transport them to the hospital could be reached, or else, having arrived at the hospital, they were unable to notify others about their location and the patient’s status, or to request additional help. Our first interviewee in Bangladesh, Omor Faruque, told us that his father is diabetic, and one July afternoon, his condition became critical. The only option to get him to the hospital was to carry him; Omor Faruque’s mother and the neighbor who were present were too elderly to lift him. Omor Faruque was away, and while there was 2G service, it wasn’t sufficient for his mother’s calls to get through to him. He mentioned that his father having been “fighting with death for two hours,” and he was finally able to take him to the hospital. In Omor Faruque’s words, “I told myself that ‘Ah! Bangladesh. Ah! If network were available, I could be here in due time and my dad wouldn’t feel such a critical situation.’”163 In the other two stories we heard, the young people we interviewed (ages 24 and 25) were the ones to transport the sick family member to the hospital, but found themselves isolated once there, unable to reach other family for help. Md Ahtaram Shine took his sister to the hospital when she fell ill, and his attempts to reach her husband, his brother-in-law, over the phone failed due to insufficient service. The 2G service that was available would allow texts to go through, but in this situation that was of little help. As Md Ahtaram Shine noted: “My brother in law does not read. So I can't text him. Then I wrote a message to a friend to send the information to my brother in law.164 Md Rafique had a similar experience, alone at the hospital with his seriously ill father: he “called [a] hundred times,“ but again, there was insufficient service to support a voice call, and he had to resort, as Md Ahtaram165 physically go and notify his family.166 Finally, one interviewee, Ro Arfat Khan, told us a story about trying to manage their own illness at home: “The last three months I was sick seriously, but I didn't go anywhere due to fear of COVID-19 pandemic [and] my condition was become serious. I tried to contact a doctor who is a friend of mine but I couldn't talk to him even after calling so many times due to weakness of network then I sent a message to come to my shelter but he did not check inbox. I have faced fear conditions like a blind man, without network connection.”167 Ro Arfat Khan’s experience illustrates that internet shutdowns negatively impact refugee’s ability to access care for conditions that do not require hospitalization, and that the stress of being unable to reach healthcare professionals may itself become a mental health issue. 163 Bangladesh interview 1. 164 Bangladesh interview 2. 165 Bangladesh interview 5. 166 Ibid. 167 Bangladesh interview 3. 37