Giving the gift of life to the poor
Reeta Sharma

THIS is a story of passion that can make human beings rise above worldly existence. This is the story of the passion of foster parents and that of a doctor driven by service and humility.

Mahesh from the poverty-stricken tribal belt of Orissa landed in Chandigarh along with some villagers at Brig K S Kang’s house looking for just food and shelter. The Kangs, full of kindness and consideration, took him in. "Within a month, we realised that he would often go out of breath even when doing very light work. Besides, he would not eat enough for his age. My wife, Ginderjeet, a retired teacher, took him off all work and began to teach him. Within three months, he was able to read and write. But his breathlessness was a cause of concern. I took him to a hospital, where the angiography revealed that he had a hole in his heart. He needed to be operated upon urgently and the heart needed to be fitted with a valve. I made frantic queries and was shocked to learn that even a poor patient needed Rs 1 lakh for such an operation.

"I must say that I was very disillusioned with management of religious places, which spend lakhs on marble and decorations but have no provision at all to help the poor. Meanwhile, with great difficulty I had located the address of his Mahesh’s parents and asked them to come to Chandigarh to look after their son while we would help with the operation. Even though I was paying for their travel, they informed me —to my horror — that it was not possible for them to come."

The Kangs wanted to see Mahesh breathe normally and live. They approached all their friends and relatives to help the boy and all of them did chip in, but the ultimate help came from Dr R S Dhaliwal, Head of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery in the PGI. His recommendation letter to the Rotary Club, Chandigarh, yielded immediate results. "While I had to sign as the guardian of the boy, Dr Dhaliwal’s magical fingers restored the missing rhythm of life of Mahesh," recalls Brigadier Kang with a sense of immense satisfaction. Besides hiring attendants to remain with the boy, the Kangs visited Mahesh twice every day while he was recovering in hospital. They also donated five units of blood for his operation.

The credit for making the poor tribal boy from Orissa breathe normally goes to both Dr Dhaliwal and the International Rotary Foundation. The foundation had started the "Gift of life" project for countries like Africa and Europe, where the entire funding of an operation was done. For a long time the Chandigarh Rotary Club was trying to bring the scheme to India too. Eventually, in 1999 the scheme was introduced at the PGI under the chairmanship of Dr Dhaliwal.

Dr Dhaliwal, who graduated from the Patiala Government Medical College in 1972, has done his postgraduation in both general surgery and heart and chest surgery from the PGI. Though, he cleared ECFMG and GMC tests with 90 per cent marks, which would have enabled him to enter the hi-tech First World countries, he opted to stay back in the PGI. "I have been greatly influenced by three women in my life, my mother, my wife and my mother-in-law. It is sheer coincidence that all the three shared a similar value system. During my growing years, my mother inculcated in me the value to care for the poor. She taught me not to chase materialism, affluence and luxury beyond a certain point when it covers your basic needs. And I was fortunate that my wife, a gynaecologist, also believed in similar values. My mother-in-law, a headmistress, was a hard-working, well-read and kind person. She too believed in simple living and high thinking and always paid extra attention to the poor. I was naturally inclined towards this ‘Gift of life’ project. We were saddled with poor patients, who had to be urgently operated upon but who had no funds. Hence such a project was godsend,’ narrates the modest doctor.

Dr Dhaliwal is the first doctor in the country who has performed hundred heart operations for the poor under this project. Again, he opted for heart surgery even though he had master’s degree in general surgery too. "When I first read world-famous heart surgeon C. Walton Lilly Hei’s biography, I was absolutely taken in. It gripped me to such an extent that I read and re-read it several times. It was Walton’s biography which influenced me to be a heart surgeon."

"The First World countries have everything at their beck and call but my mind told me that I should serve the people of my own country, especially the poorest of the poor. It gives me immense satisfaction when under this ‘Gift of life’ project my team of doctors and I are able to save poor people, who without this expensive operation might have lost their lives." No wonder, in March 2002, the Rotary Club, Chandigarh, honoured Dr Dhaliwal and his team for their invaluable service.

Brigadier Kang, who was able to observe the functioning of the PGI and the doctors during the operation and post-recovery of Mahesh, has this to say: "Coming from a disciplined Army background, I was simply overwhelmed to see the functioning of the PGI. To handle the large number of patients, doctors work beyond their duty hours. Dr Dhaliwal and his team are so punctual that you can set your watch on their arrival. Certainly, he pays extra attention to the poor patients. Not once did he miss his morning and evening rounds of the wards. I never saw a doctor missing from his duty. I must say hats off to the PGI and its doctors like Dhaliwal, who are passing on a heritage to the junior doctors."