Chipilima: A video showing a doctor helping an elderly leprosy patient cross a busy road by carrying him in his arms is going viral here and at the same time deluge of wishes are reaching the doctor.
Dr Shankar Ramchandani, a senior resident doctor of Burla based VIMSAR was driving somewhere Monday morning when he saw an elderly leper trying to cross the busy road to reach the leper colony, across the road. After watching him struggle wading through the bumper to bumper traffic, Ramchandani parked his car by the roadside and walked down to the person.
Addressing the man as ‘mausa’ (uncle), he enquired him about his destination. Though a little perplexed to hear ‘mausa’ from someone looking like a ‘babu’ (officer), he told him of his struggle to cross the street.
Ramchandani, a noble heart as he is, carried the person in his hands and dropped him in his hut.
The patient, taken aback by the gesture but thankful for the help, patted the doctor on his back. On getting to know that his rescuer is a doctor, he wondered how a young doctor could touch him. Of course, his experience of the world had been bitter.
The young doctor left the place smiling, not expecting that an onlooker had recorded the incident in his mobile phone.
When contacted, he said, “These patients are also human beings like us. They have also the right to live life with dignity in the society. We should look down upon the disease but not the patients.”
“We are still living with the misconception that leprosy gets transmitted upon touching these patients. Because of this misconception, they are first neglected by their family members and then found themselves in specific colonies. We have to get rid of such misconception and begin to love these patients. If they are treated at home with love and care, they can be cured,” he further observed.
PNN