Sightless, yet handles patients with care

KOCHI: Visually-challenged Anil Kumar saw the world darken gradually before he reached his youth. But that did not deter him from doing graduation in Sociology and a B Ed course. Now, a canteen in-charge at Sunrise Hospital in Kakkanad, Anil was voted the best employee by hospital patients and staff this month.A native of Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district, Anil belongs to a fisherman’s family and has two married sisters. “I could see the beautiful world during the first 15 years of my life, before I started losing sight gradually. I underwent six operations in my left eye and four in the right. Yet I could not retrieve my eyesight,’’ Anil said.A high school rankholder in Class XII, he secured first division in graduation and BEd.Having undergone training in computers at the training institute ofSociety for Rehabilitation of Visually Challenged (SRVC) at Infopark, Anil is now happy with his new job and marriage is also on the cards in a couple of months.  “I believe in being positive in handling anything in life,” he said. Doctors at the hospital were all praise for Anil. “We had problems regarding canteen management. For us, it is easy to do surgery, but managing the cafeteria is a completely different cup of tea. Especially handling the patients and their relatives is a difficult task,’’ said Dr Hafeezur Rehman, Chairman, Sunrise Hospital.‘‘It was our Managing Director Parveen Hafeez who decided to select Anil. Initially, we were apprehensive about appointing a differently-challenged person when the normal ones had failed. But she was sure that he would be a success,’’ said Medical Administrator Dr Padma Kumar.‘‘I met him at the SRVC and decided that we could try him. We also have a visually-challenged girl Sandhya who manages the telephone board,’’ said Hafeez. Be it keeping the patients and their relatives happy when they are disturbed or running the canteen, Anil has won everybody’s goodwill and blessing and of course their backing too.