Dr. Raman Sharma, third-year postgraduate resident in medicine at MGIMS (2014 batch), died on September 23, 2014 at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. After a month- long battle with cancer, and enduring almost every complication an onco surgery could breed, she left for heavenly abode.
Her burgeoning career as a medical resident was eroded by a malignant bone tumour that was discovered in August 2014. Surely this was not this 28- year – old girl imagined her life would unfold. She went from a healthy and devout girl- planning to advance her career in the tradition of the distinguished alumni that her department had produced, spending sleepless nights trying to finish her MD thesis and eagerly looking forward to her wedding to a vulnerable and acute ailing patient.
She batted her cancer with an indomitable willpower, remained nonplussed as she quickly come to terms with her cancer, handled terrifying situations and impossible choices with the stoutest resolve, and stood the terrifying situations and impossible choices with the stoutest resolve, and stood the physical and emotional rigours of an extensive limb salvage surgery at Tata Memorial Hospital with a courage that was exemplary and exceptional.
A fortnight later, when she was convalescing from the surgery, disaster exacted revenge on her broken leg. She was readmitted and underwent emergency re-operation at Tata Memorial Hospital, and despite the best surgical and medical care, drifted in the fog of uncertainty, and breathed in an air of desperate, and ultimately false, hope until she sank into a seemingly bottomless chasm and could not climb up again.
We will always remember Raman as a lively, vivacious resident and someone who touched the lives of so many of us. The MGIMS fraternity stood by her during the final leg of her journey and offered her family the support that it was desperately eyeing for. Our alumni and faculty at MGIMS exemplified Albert Schweitzer’s famous adage that the purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.
Over the last thirty- six hours, my mail box is getting inundated with mails from MGIMS alumni asking how best they can help Raman’s family. The swift spontaneity with which they responded and the generous help that they offered is very touching. A sudden catastrophic illness devastates a family, numbs its thought process and paralyses its thinking, more so when a family has to incur heavy out-of-pocket expenses for a series of medical tragedies that it is least prepared for. Soon after Raman’s illness was detected, her family went through the cycle of flight, freeze and fight – the characteristic human response to a catastrophe. It needed people who could understand its unvoiced concerns, well-wishers who could provide it personal warmth, and loved ones whose very words could soothe its pain.
I am overwhelmed with the support that our alumni provided- reaching out, calling and texting the support group, personally visiting the family, talking with the consultants, arranging expensive medications, offering place for the family to live in and raising funds enough to see Raman’s medical illness through. They generated a sense of optimism and hope and helped Raman’s family in coping with the disaster. They represent the magnanimity MGIMS is associated with; their kindness embodies the Sevagram spirit.
Raman Came from Bathinda, Punjab. She is survived by her Pawan-her younger brother and an intern- and her parents. You Will be missed by the MGIMS family, Raman. Rest in peace.