A letter from Dr. Devi Shetty, Bangalore

[Guest guest]

A LETTER TO 4000 CHILDREN WITH A SCAR ON THE CHEST

 

My Dear Children:

 

I have been planning to write this letter for quite some time. May be I

just waited for you all to grow up to understand what I am trying to

convey. The story goes back many years. When God sent you to this

world it was perhaps the best thing that had happened to your parents.

Every little nudges and kicks in your mother's womb opened up a new

world of happiness and expectations. Then one day, a miracle happened.

You were to begin a new journey. From the warm, happy, secure world of

your mother's womb to a world that is cold and full of insecurities.

Nevertheless, the joy that your parents felt after this journey knew no

bounds. They were on top of the world. But, unfortunately, this

happiness was very short lived. That very day you started turning blue

in colour. The doctors had found a hole in your heart that shattered

the dreams of your parents. They were devastated and could not

understand why they were being punished in this way. They had no choice

but to accept the inevitable reality and decided to give you the best

possible medical care.

 

Before that they had to overcome two major hurdles. They could not

afford the cost of your heart operation and they could not wait since

you were turning blue every time you cried. I guess this is a penalty

you have to pay for being born in a third world country. Yes, when you

were ten days old you had a price tag on your life. If your parents

paid the price, they can have you, if not you would have to go back to

where you came from. Your mummy and daddy went through phases of

self-pity, denial, mutual accusations and anger towards the society,

which was indifferent to their problems. Your daddy was most upset

since he knew that the price tag on your life was less than what his

boss would spend on a Saturday evening party. But that is life and one

has to accept it. Time was running out and your daddy was getting

desperate until he came to know about me. The first thing he told me

when we met was "I heard you love children". Yes, I love children and I

have four of my own. My profession is giving hope to people suffering

from heart diseases and giving them a chance to start life in a fresh

new way. I am essentially a technician who can cut and stitch people's

heart; they call me a heart surgeon.

 

When I met you first you were barely 10 days old, cuddled in a warm

blanket close to your mother's heart. Except for a bit of rapid

breathing and bluish nails on your finger, you looked like an angel. I

am sure you cannot remember but I asked you a question "do you want to

be my friend"? This is the question I ask all the children I see. I

did want to be your friend and I worked so hard to gain your friendship.

I clearly remember your mother's face when she was handing you over to

the operation theatre nurse. She kissed you and looked at my face with

an expression that she is handing over her most precious possession to

me; also with the total confidence that I will take care of you. It was

a different sort of love triangle between your father, mother and myself

with you at the centre. We would have done any thing in this world to

get you back. It took me six hours of intense concentration to operate

upon your heart and so many sleepless nights before you started smiling

again. God was kind to you that time and you made a marvelous recovery.

It was a big day for your family when you were being discharged from the

hospital. Both your mummy and daddy would have thanked me a million

times before they left the hospital. But they didn't have to tell me

anything since I knew every world what they wanted to say. Tears of joy

rolled down their cheeks. But you were blissfully unaware of what was

going on clinging on to your mother's chest. My eyes began to swell

with tears and I turned my face the other way since a cardiac surgeon is

not supposed to cry. Through the corner of my wet eyes I saw your face

one more time and I knew I found one more friend. Your friendship and

love is the only fee I expect for treating you.

 

As a heart surgeon I have performed more than 4000 operations on

children like you suffering from heart disease. Most of them came from

poor families. Despite their backgrounds, I treat all for free. I

think this is the best way I can repay God who has given me everything I

wanted, a good family, a wonderful wife and loving children. For me

this world is such a happy place to live in and in my own small way I

strive hard to make it happy for others around me who are not so

fortunate.

 

You must be wondering what inspired me to take this path. I guess, I

became a doctor because of the recurrent illness of my parents. My

childhood was spent with the fear of loosing my mother. My father who

was a diabetic had multiple episodes of diabetic coma. In the life of

the nine of us God was a distant image and his clear image was that of

Doctor who could save the lives of our parents.

 

Another childhood incident left a lasting impression on my young mind.

I remember, it was a Saturday afternoon; I was trying to build a car, I

think, out of matchboxes and sticks, like all the other children in my

village. My mother was speaking to a distant relative of ours in

Bombay. This lady was telling my mother about a particular surgeon who

apart from saving her child's life also offered his service completely

free of cost. I could hear my mother blessing the mother of that

surgeon for giving birth to such a wonderful person and ended up saying

that this world is still a wonderful place because of people like him.

 

That was the time I found the purpose to my life, the purpose of brining

happiness to all the children of this world. I was lucky to be in the

right place at the right time. I was trained to be a heart surgeon at

Guy's Hospital, London. My colleagues there called me an "operating

machine" since I loved heart surgery.

 

I left England in 1989 to start a state-of-the-art heart hospital called

BM Birla Heart Research Centre at Calcutta. It was a great experience

to set up a heart hospital, which soon became one of the best heart

hospitals in India. And almost immediately after we set up the research

centre we started the pediatric cardiac surgical facilities to take care

of children suffering from heart diseases. Little did I know that this

centre was to rewrite medical history? My mother at that time was

living in a small town near Mangalore. It was my father's death

anniversary and she spent almost the entire day in the prayer room. In

the evening, my sister who was watching the news at the national

network, all of a sudden screamed out for my mother. My mother hurried

to the living room to see her son on TV with a nine day old baby who

underwent a successful open-heart surgery. He was the youngest baby at

that point of time in India to undergo a successful open-heart surgery.

It was the beginning of heart surgery on newborn babies in India. I

guess at that time many mothers too would have prayed for my mother's

well being.

 

Let me tell you about another incident. Do you know the definition of a

paediatric cardiac surgeon? The dictionary says he is a surgeon who

specializes in the treatment of heart ailments in children. A few years

ago, when Mother Teresa suffered a heart attack I was put in charge of

her heart care. One day, Mother, who at that point of time was

convalescing in the intensive care unit of the hospital, saw me

examining a blue baby. After few minutes of thought she turned towards

me and said; "Now I know why you are here. To relieve the agony of

children with heart disease, God sent you to this world to fix it". To

my mind, this is the best definition ever given of a paediatric cardiac

surgeon and perhaps the best compliment that I have ever received.

 

One day you will become an adult and probably a very important member of

our society. You will have lot of responsibilities and commitments.

All I ask you for is, can you spare few moments of your precious time

every day for someone who needs it? And that too without expecting

anything back in return. Do you know, to save your life, a few hundred

people worked sincerely without expecting any remuneration other than

the joy of making your family, friends and relatives happy?

 

Dear children, we are all creation of the God and He is in control of

all the events happening in this world. Unfortunately he is not

supposed to be seen, heard or felt. So, he runs this world using people

like you and me. And when you do your work without expecting anything

in return, just for the joy of brining happiness to others, that's when

you'll realize it is not your hands, which do the job, it is the hands

of God.

 

Yours lovingly,

(Dr. Devi Shetty)

 

 

Dr. Devi Shetty can be reached at his e-mail: hrudayalaya or

devishetty

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram dear all,

 

This letter has really moved me.

 

I am sitting in the office now, with tears in my eyes.

 

My husband also had a heart problem and underwent open heart surgery at the

age of 6. Every word this doctor wrote is true and has affected me deeply.

His great dedication in the face of pressure and hardships, coupled with his

immense humility, are a lesson to me. I thank Dr. Shetty and the many others

like him from the bottom of my heart and would like to also add to the many

blessings his mother and father have been showered with by people from far

and wide for his great work.

 

Let us all endeavour to emulate Dr. Shetty, he is practicing Swami's

principle of "help ever, hurt never".

 

Sai Ram!

 

With kind regards

 

Mythri Sambasivan-George

Audit and Assurance services

KPMG Botswana

 

Tel +267 391 2400

Fax +267 397 5281

 

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Ravi Yemula [ravi.yemula]

Thursday, March 18, 2004 8:44 AM

saibabanews

[saibabanews] A letter from Dr. Devi Shetty, Bangalore

 

 

A LETTER TO 4000 CHILDREN WITH A SCAR ON THE CHEST