PM’s surgeon offers help to Ramrati

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ramrati — the woman who was living in an unused urinal outside the All India institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) until two days ago awaiting heart treatment — have something in common: a cardiac surgeon. HT reports. A lot to smile about | Photos: Apathy in Aiims

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ramrati — the woman who was living in an unused urinal outside the All India institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) until two days ago awaiting heart treatment — have something in common: a cardiac surgeon.

Dr A Sampath Kumar, who was on the team that did the heart bypass procedure for Singh in January 2009 at AIIMS, will be fixing the 45-year-old woman’s heart. "I’ll repair her damaged valve, and if there is a need for valve replacement, we’ll do it for free," said Dr Kumar, who is senior consultant of heart surgery at Pushpanjali Crosslay Hospital, Vaishali on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. The surgery will be done next week.

A heart valve costs Rs 92,000. “I mortgaged half of my fields and deposited Rs 1 lakh at AIIMS some weeks ago,” said her husband Bhawanidin.

AIIMS will return the money, if the procedure hasn't been done, said Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent.

The couple said they would use the money for the education of their 17-year-old son, Raja Singh. “We want him to study in a good college,” said Bhawanidin.

The couple, who are from UP, have been in the Capital since May. They lived first under a tree and then in an unused urinal outside AIIMS until HT wrote about them and Hem Kumari, a cancer patient, on August 3. An NGO moved them to a dharamshala in Yusuf Sarai on Wednesday.