Nikki Tamboli's Brother Dies Battling COVID and Other Illnesses

She talked about her brother's fight with COVID in an Instagram story

Nikki Tamboli's brother Jatin; and her family

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

Bigg Boss 14 contestant Nikki Tamboli's brother Jatin passed away on 4 May, aged 29. On her Instagram stories, Nikki talked about her brother's fight with illness and his subsequent passing, "My brother was just 29. He was dealing with a lot of health issues since many years… 28 days back my brother got admitted in hospital as his lungs collapsed he was surviving on 1 lung. He tested positive for tuberculosis and Covid in the hospital," she wrote.

Chalking the tragedy up to destiny, she added, "He also got pneumonia and today morning his heart stopped beating and responding. God has always been kind to me and my family. He saved my brother many times but as we say what is written is written in the destiny no one can ever change that. I thank all of them who prayed for my brother. He was tired of the hospital."

Nikki also shared pictures with Jatin on Instagram with the caption, "We didn't know that this morning god was going to call your name..In life we loved you dearly, In death we do the same, It broke our hearth to lose you,You didn't go alone,For part of us we went with you, The day god called you home, You left us beautiful memories, Your love is still our guide, And though we cannot see you, You are always by our side, Our family chain is broken, And nothing seems the same, But as god calls us one by one, The chain will link again."

"You gave no one a last farewell, Not ever said good bye, You were gone before we knew it, And only god knows why, A million times we will miss you, A million times we will cry, If love alone could have saved you, you never would have died, We will meet again someday, I thank God he made you our brother while you were here on earth," she concluded.

Nikki had earlier spoken to ETimes and talked about her appearance on "Honestly, I am ready but at the same time I am dealing with family and my brother’s health issues... I am excited because more than me, my brother wanted me to be a part of a season of Khatron Ke Khiladi so this one I am just doing for him. It was his dream. I never thought of backing out of the show, because I am always ready for challenges in life," she said.

Nikki's former Bigg Boss co-contestants and various other celebrities expressed their condolences under her post. While actor Arjun Bijlani commented, "I'm so so sorry for your loss Nikki. May God give you all the strength you need," Siddhanth Kapoor wrote, "May his soul RIP. Take care and stay strong." Aly Goni took to Twitter to mourn the loss. "Just heard about nikki’s brother. may god rest his soul in peace. stay strong @nikkitamboli," he tweeted.

Rahul Mahajan, Jasmin Bhasin, Manu Punjabi, and Abhinav Shukla also condoled her brother's passing.