Ramrati gets a new heart valve, a new life

Ramrati, the heart patient who was living in a public urinal outside All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), has got a new lease of life.

Ramrati, the heart patient who was living in a public urinal outside All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), has got a new lease of life.

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Within a week of Hindustan Times reporting about her plight, a private hospital has replaced her damaged heart valve for free. She had waited in futile for three months to get a date for her heart surgery at AIIMS before she got help from the private hospital.

Early on Monday, Dr A Sampath Kumar, former head of heart surgery at AIIMS and part of the team of surgeons that did prime Minister Manmohan Singh's bypass in 2009, replaced a valve at Pushpanjali Crosslay Hospital near Ghaziabad.

Arguably the best surgeon for heart valve repair, Dr Kumar offered to do the surgery for free after reading about her in HT. "Her mitral heart valve was damaged beyond repair, so we've replaced it. She's is doing well after the surgery," he said.

An eight-member team took four hours to replace the damaged heart valve. The artificial valve, which costs R90,000, was donated by the United States-based Edwards Lifesciences.

Doctors said Ramrati will be under observation for 48 hours in the ICU before being moved to a ward. She'll be discharged after five days, after which she has to come back once again to get her stitches removed.

"Once the stitches are removed, we'll go back to the village. We can't thank the doctors enough, but we've had enough of the city," her husband said.

Dr Kumar added, "It was a major surgery, so she can't start walking overnight. She is recovering well and will be able to lead a normal life."