KANHANGAD : Covid-19 has deprived an award winning farmer and social worker of his last wish -- of donating his cadaver to a medical college.P V Koran, 83, of Koottakkani in Pallikkara panchayat, died on Wednesday. Koran was ailing from renal failure for sometime and was undergoing dialysis, said his family friends.He is survived by wife Kamalakshi, sons Ratnakaran, a sales tax officer in Kanhangad, and Vishakan, a driver in Badiadka panchayat office.
Twelve years ago, Koran completed the procedure to donate his body to Kannur Medical College Hospital in Pariyaram, said Ramakrishnan Meethal, secretary of Community Coconut Development Centre in Pallikkara.Ramakrishnan and Koran’s son Ratnakaran were the witnesses when Koran pledged his body to the medical school. “Whenever he fell sick, he kept reminding his children and relatives that his body should be sent to Pariyaram,” said Ramakrishnan.
When he died, the family contacted the medical college but officials said they have stopped accepting cadavers in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Ramakrishnan.Koran was conferred with best farmer award, instituted to promote intercropping by CPCRI and Asian Development Bank, he added.