KOCHI: Sumitra (name changed), a cancer patient was breathing her last , surrounded by her daughter and five different nursing care staff, each of them standing apart so as not to create discomfort for the patient on bed or the grieving daughter. When five minuites later, the shrill cries of the daughter rocked the halls of Peace Mission Centre, the staff there was still present, with a comforting hand on her shoulder. The doctor was also present, knowing that the moment was then and there was nothing more to be done, yet content of having been able to give Sumitra a peaceful farewell.
A one-kilometre detour from the highway in Thuruthsherry near Mekkad in Nedumbassery will take you to Peace Mission Centre, an institution which does free palliative care for patients. Unbelievable, but true even during these times when everything is done with only profits in mind.
The Centre has the capacity to hold 40 inpatients and even does home care. Any patient admitted in the centre will have access to the best care with a visiting doctor and over 16 nurses employed here along with over five hospital care staff who keeps the place clean.
There is also a full-time ambulance facility that will take the patient to a hospital or anywhere they wish to go for treatment.
Rema (name changed) is the bystander with her mother-in-law who is now an inmate at Peace mission centre. Her husband is a carpenter and they were trying to give her the best possible help with the meagre income they have. However, her health state was so bad that she was not even able to have liquid food.
"She used to be in such a bad condition that we couldn't bear her pain. Now, however, she is getting the best care here. She is even consuming some fluid now. They clean her and keep her in the best possible way," she said.
"We have started this specifically to aid those with financial constraints and also to ensure that we help people have their dignity in death. A lot of people reach here when they are in the last few days of their life. Many have breathed their last here and we are happy to provide them with a very peaceful atmosphere here and also maximum care," said Chinnan Pynadan, working with Peace Mission centre.
"The only financial funding we have is donations. Thankfully, we did not have to struggle to find it so far and firmly believe that this will be the case in future too. We take the patients in our ambulance for chemotherapy or any other treatment they want to go to," said Father Sabu Palackal, who manages the centre.
"They come here for end of life care.We don't have treatments here, only care. We provide some medicines and all the basic medical facilities. Everyone want painless moments once they start crumpling in the grip of cancer. We take in those people who have no hope for life or future, but the immediate day," said Dr N Mohanan, the doctor working with Peace Mission.
The centre was launched last January here by the Guardian Angel Care Charitable Society, a Vengola based society led by Abraham Mar Severios Metropolitan.