In face of tragedy, he never lost ‘sight’ of others

Courage comes in different forms. Retired banker E Debendra Patro showed it when he faced great personal tragedy after his son and wife died within 24 hours.

BERHAMPUR: Courage comes in different forms. Retired banker E Debendra Patro showed it when he faced great personal tragedy after his son and wife died within 24 hours. He mustered enough strength to donate their eyes so that visually challenged persons can get a chance to see the beautiful world.
A retired SBI officer, Patro was leading a normal life, dedicating significant part of his time to Friends Helping Club (FCH), a social organisation of silk city, which works for eye and blood donation.

On December 25, he suffered a deep personal loss as his 31-year old son, E Aswin Santosh Patro, perished after a brief illness. Grief-stricken though he was, Patro decided to donate the eyes of his son so that two blind persons can get back their vision.Accordingly Dr Sohil Shaikh and Dr Debasish Mahapatra collected both the corneas of Aswin during early hours of Tuesday under the supervision of Head of Ophthalmology Department of MKCG Medical College and Hospital Dr B Nageswar Subudhi.

Even as Aswin’s funeral was taking place on Tuesday evening, Patro was in for another shock when his 58-year-old wife Sulochana died of heart attack. Loss of the son apparently proved too unbearable for the mother. The two deaths threw the Patro family into utter shock and despair.
Mourning and distressed as he was, but the retired banker did not lose sight of the greater good and thought of those who are waiting to see the world. He decided to donate the eyes of his deceased wife to help two more persons with sight.

As per his instructions, Dr Ashish Bhoi and Dr Jayanti Patel collected both the corneas of Sulochana at their residence on Tuesday night.The noble gesture of the family in spite of the grief and shock has drawn huge praise and appreciation.

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