Ahmedabad: A Pakistani Hindu, 13-year old Tarachand Gehlot, is recuperating at Ahmedabad's VS Hospital after undergoing a heart surgery. Having a hole in his heart since birth, Tarachand was unable to breathe properly and even walk a few metres before he was operated upon last week.
Hailing from Kot Ghulam Mohammed in Mirpur district of Sindh province in Pakistan, the family took him to Karachi and then came to India. They went to Jodhpur in Rajasthan for treatment, before he was finally operated upon successfully in Ahmedabad.
Interestingly, the family did not have the required money for the operation and it was the hospital staff that collected the required funds for Tarachand’s surgery.
Kushal Gehlot, Tarachand's brother, said, "The cost of the surgery was over Rs 90,000. We had just Rs 20,000. They still did the surgery and he is fine now."
Dr Birju Shah, the doctor at the VS Hospital in Ahmedabad, said, "He could not walk beyond a few metres and could not breathe properly. After the surgery, he was critical in the ICU and we worked real hard to make him well."
Dr Vinod Agrawal, cardiac surgeon at the same hospital, said. "We are not interested in politics. We just did our duty and our moral responsibility."
The 13-year old boy, although frail, is recovering quickly and is likely to be discharged from hospital in a couple of days. He wants to stay in India. Looking very happy, Tarachand said, "I could not breathe earlier, but now I am fine. I want to stay here."
At a time when India and Pakistan look to strengthen relations, the humanitarian act by the VS Hospital staff is indeed an example of the way forward.
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