THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: S Deepu, the UDF member on the Kerala Youth Welfare Board, wanted to prove the doctors wrong when they predicted that he would not live for more than a week. If anything, his sheer determination to succeed in life will perhaps put others to shame. Over the past 13 months, he has had to amputate his left leg three times, up to his thigh.
In eight months, he has endured six major surgeries, including an open heart surgery. And he currently has only 70 per cent vision in his left eye, with the right completely blind. Despite all that, Deepu scaled the Ramakkalmedu in Idukki with his artificial leg and an overstressed heart, catching even his doctors by surprise.
Now the much-admired 43-year-old Haripad resident is hopeful of getting a berth in the Congress state committee as a secretary, or else a vice-president of the Alappuzha district committee. Deepu’s hospital encounters began three years ago - following a silent heart attack - while studying LLB at the Dr Ambedkar Global Law Institute in Tirupati.
Ophthalmologists with various hospitals in Kochi and Madurai diagnosed his initial blindness in both the eyes down to internal bleeding. Despite undergoing four surgeries to his eyes, his vision could not be restored.
When he came to terms with life as a visually impaired public servant, an ophthalmologist with a leading eye hospital in Kochi took up the challenge of performing yet another surgery on his left eye. Deepu’s joy knew no bounds when he got 70 per cent of his eyesight back.
But just when he thought that his health issues were over, he developed pain on his left leg. After shuttling between various hospitals with his MRI scan report, a leading cardiologist diagnosed that pumping to his heart was down to a mere 20 per cent.
"When I regained consciousness, I realised that my leg had been amputated from the knee. But even after a month, the wound was not healing, which led the doctors to initiate vacuum assisted closure therapy. With no respite, they amputated me again right up to my thigh. I have undergone pain that a normal human being won’t have to face," Deepu told The New Indian Express.
Son of the late G Sasidharan and S Rukmini, he was helped by his friends in the Congress to meet the hospital expenses of around Rs 80 lakh.
"Anyone else would have crumbled in the face of one setback after another. But Deepu rose like a Phoenix with sheer grit and will power. Even during such tough times, he took an active role in politics and social activities in his capacity as the founder-president of the Rajiv Gandhi Cultural Library, CEO and secretary of the Sabarmati Special School, and the chairman of the Sarvodaya Pain and Palliative Care Society, Haripad," said M Liju, former Alappuzha president of the Congress.
The love and support of his wife, PR Sreeja, and seven-year-old son Tapas, and even three-year-old daughter Theertha was crucial in instilling a spirit to fight against heavy odds, Deepu added.