Heart patient ramrati all set to head home in a week

Within 10 days of HT reporting about her living under a tree and then inside an unused public urinal outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)awaiting surgery date, Madhya Pradesh-resident Ramrati (42) is ready to be discharged.

Within 10 days of HT reporting about her living under a tree and then inside an unused public urinal outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)awaiting surgery date, Madhya Pradesh-resident Ramrati (42) is ready to be discharged.

HT Image

A private hospital had come forward to replace her damaged heart valve for free. The surgery that took place on August 8 was a high-risk one, as 5 feet 4 inches tall Ramrati weighed a mere 31 kg.

“Her condition had deteriorated awfully. I doubt if she would have survived the wait any longer,” said Dr A Sampath Kumar, former head of cardiac surgery department at Aiims, who did the valve replacement at Pushpanjali Crosslay Hospital near Ghaziabad.

Ramrati’s husband, Bhawanidin, said, “I had heard a lot about Aiims, but it utterly disappointed me. God has been kind; we now want to go back to our children.” Ramrati’s stitches will be removed in a week, after which she can go home.

Dr Kumar, who specializes in heart-valve surgery and has created a valve which is awaiting United States Food and Drug Administration approval, offered to do the R4 lakh surgery for free after reading about her plight in HT.

The valve is made of animal tissue and she would not have to be on medicines for life, Dr Kumar added.