Saving Lives: One day at a time

‘When you save lives, it’s not just one life you save, you impact many others along with it. It’s a chain.’

Dr Vidushi with one of her little patients

Working as a doctor at a district hospital in Mangaluru, Karnataka, I have known the importance of saving lives from a very young age. It’s the little things, like when your patient walks back home with a grin on their face- that feeling of content is what we live for. This emotion is so beautiful, that, as doctors we are ready to put in years of hard work for it, because that’s what keeps us going.

Learning about Genesis Foundation

I learnt about the children’s heart Foundation from a friend’s Facebook and then out of sheer curiosity, just ended up reading about their work online. Truly a remarkable and selfless way of saving lives for those in need of help. Congenital heart disease in children are physiological malformations and are treatable by medicines or surgery. In today’s world with advanced technology, there are innumerable ways in which science is helping us- the main reason why the life expectancy of the world population has increased. But unfortunately, in India, a lot of people don’t always have the means to get tested or be able to get the appropriate treatment. The children’s heart Foundation is a blessing to such underprivileged families because they’re bridging this gap between lack of financial resources and quality medical care.

After reading up everything about their work, I connected with the team. Luckily, I got the chance to interact with an ailing family, where their daughter got the life she deserved.

The story of Rajvardhani

Little Rajvardhani looking
into the camera keenly

A little seven-month-old girl who suffered from PDA (patent ductus arteriosus), Rajvardhani was born as a premature

baby and had to stay in the ICU for a few days before being discharged. But her excessive crying, difficulty in breathing and feeding really bothered her parents. Sadananda, her father is a farmer in Satara, Maharashtra. Seeing his only daughter unwell, he took her to a nearby Anganwadi where the doctor advised them to get an Echocardiography test done. Congenital heart disease in children usually requires surgical intervention and it was no different for Rajvardhani. She was operated in December 2021 at Jupiter hospital and has fully recovered now.

Her father told me happily, ‘She is much more active now and doesn’t cry like she used to earlier. In fact, the doctor is saying she is meeting all her milestones now!’. They have noticed a huge improvement in the quality of her life since the surgery.

Even though I was only able to communicate with the family via a mobile phone, it was a heart-touching experience for me, as it was a reminder of various problems of our society and how much is yet to be done. It is crucial we realize how important it is that we work together for the welfare of our people, especially children because their health and well-being determine the future of our country. Whether as doctors, or any other medical support staff, volunteers creating value through their time, or donors lending a helping hand, we all have that power to contribute in our own ways.

Because just like that, we are all saving lives, one day at a time.