The camp with a heart concludes

SURAT, Feb 8: A seven-year-old daughter of a vegetable vendor and a 28-year-old farm labourer were among the 19 people who underwent card...

SURAT, Feb 8: A seven-year-old daughter of a vegetable vendor and a 28-year-old farm labourer were among the 19 people who underwent cardiac surgery at a free, eight-day-long camp at the Shree Mahavir General Hospital.

8220;All the patients come from a economically backward background; such operations would have been out of their reach otherwise8221;, said Meetaben Shah, member of the executive committee of the Shree Mahavir Health and Medical Relief Society. An open-heart surgery in Mumbai costs around Rs 1.20 lakhs.

Addressing all those who had gathered at the concluding function, she said 19 open heart surgeries 8212; seven artery bypass surgeries, five valve corrective surgeries and seven others, including pacemaker implantation and congenital defect-repair 8212; were performed by a six-member team of doctors from USA. The Dr Brad Smith and Dr Vipin Patel-led team was assisted by Dr Mahadev and Dr Jaswant Patel.

According to Dr Arun John, medical director of the hospital, 72 patients had registered for operations, but only 19 could be treated. 8220;The remaining patients will be operated upon in April, when the hospital plans to hold another camp8221;, he said.

The patients who got a fresh lease of life today included Nirmalaben Ramode, 30, Rajendra Mistry, 30, Faridudin Kadri, 47, Mukesh Patel, 28 and Rajendra Choksi, 47. The American team not only performed the operation free of charge, but also donated medicines and other material. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mahadev, member of the in-house team, said that they were initially apprehensive about the camp since no bypass surgery had ever been performed at the Mahavir Hospital. 8220;But the American team made it possible8221;, he said.

Chicago-based Dr Vipin Patel, who hails from Bardoli in Surat district, was credited with making the camp a success. After his initial schooling from Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, Vadodara, Patel left for the USA for higher medical studies.

While narrating their experiences, Drs Brad Smith, Heidi Jensen, Jane Compton, Lisa Roy and Sheri Noonam said they were very excited to visit India and would love to return some time.