It was 5:30 PM on
April 5th and I was attending a short phone call and in that duration I had
five missed calls from the same number. It is one of our 12th graders – Radhika
(we fondly call her Rads) who finished her exams on April 1st and had
gone home for a short vacation to be with her mother. I returned the call
only to find myself in a bigger mess…….that’s what I thought at least.
With
exasperating voice, Rads started describing about an elderly woman in nightgown, head shaven, is in her village not knowing where she is from but appears
to have wandered off. In no time, it was apparent to both of us that she has
memory problems. Rads was so moved by this elderly woman’s plight, she gave her
a place to sit and didn’t allow her to go any further.
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Darkness set in
and she wouldn’t stop calling me. Since the elderly woman appears to be having
memory loss, I called the Mental Health Center of Christian Medical College but
they didn’t have any of their patients missing. I googled and found the number
of the nearby state hospital (Adukkamparai Government Medical College) to
inquire if any of their patients wandered off. Lady on the other end wouldn’t
let me go but called a medical doctor who asked me for all the details which
fits the elderly woman they have been looking for. Rads was ecstatic. Doctor
requested that she be brought to the emergency room but when I asked Rads, she
was ready to take her but there are no automobiles in her village to take her.
Sitting
helplessly with the frail elderly woman who literally seems to have walked
about 10 KM from 5:00 AM, all that Rads heard was her community’s indifference
and rebuke. Then, all of a sudden there was this light. A car drove in with a
glaring light and asking for Rads. It was that elderly woman’s family which
came to take her. Family left the village with profound thankfulness for what
Rads had done. Doctor also called and thanked her and Rads rightly made him to
talk to her own mother. The doctor explained to her about how proud she should be of her
daughter.
For one last
time when she called me that evening, her voice was choking. Not from sadness
but with tears of joy. Rads herself didn’t have an easy childhood before she
joined the Hope House four years ago. I thought for a minute as to what
possibly could have made her this gentle and caring? I couldn’t think of
anything other than the environment at the Hope House – Stretch the rules to be
right than to follow the book to be righteous.
Rads, my hats off
to you girl tonight. You’re my hero. You made the right choice in choosing
healthcare as a career.
Now, Rads got admission to India’s best nursing
college called “Christian Medical College” to become a nurse and she will join the college on
August 16th, 2016. Appreciate Rads at radhika20140619@gmail.com
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2 comments:
Congratulations Radhika. As a psychiatrist I know only too well the challenges you would have faced in helping, no, saving this lady. You are blessed with a caring heart. May you always find the strength to continue blessing others.
Anna Tharyan
Congratulations Radhika. As a psychiatrist I know only too well the challenges you would have faced in helping, no, saving this lady. You are blessed with a caring heart. May you always find the strength to continue blessing others.
Anna Tharyan
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