My Encounter with a Polio Cripple - by Rtn Dr. Anand Bhatia
| Meeting Date | 28 Oct 2023 |
| Meeting Time | 18:30:00 |
| Location | Poona Club Conf Hall 1 |
| Meeting Type | Regular |
| Meeting Topic | My Encounter with a Polio Cripple - by Rtn Dr. Anand Bhatia |
| Meeting Agenda | Dr. Bhatia's encounter with a polio cripple is a real-life story of managing the challenges of a keeping a polio stricken patient safe in transit. The treatment describes the battle for survival against great odds in the face of limited medical resources existing in Mumbai /India in 1970s. The real life experience recounted by Dr Bhatia, which culminated into an unprecedented and virtually impossible task of finally transferring the patient to Los Angeles in a US military aircraft for her final recovery, will surely leave you with a lot of goose pimples! In line with this year's tradition, the Happy Hours Fellowship, including drinks and dinner, is being graciously hosted by R’Ann Dr. Sita Bhatia. As always, there will be a half-hour pre-meeting Fellowship starting at 6:30 p.m., followed by the official meeting, which will be called to order at 7 p.m. So let’s not miss Rtn. PP Dr. Anand Bhatia's talk this Saturday, 28th October, 6.30 PM at the Poona Club – Conference Hall 1. Look forward to seeing you all. |
| Chief Guest | Rtn Dr. Anand Bhatia |
| Club Members Present | 47 |
| Minutes of Meeting | A Doctor’s Unforgettable Case Rtn. PP Dr. Anand Bhatia gave fellow RCPC members an engrossing talk on his encounter with a polio patient when he was a young MD in the 1970s. An American lady named Sally Rosencrantz had been admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay under the care of renowned intensivist Dr Farokh Udvadia. The patient was 30 weeks pregnant and suffering from loss of strength in the upper and lower extremities and severe breathing difficulties. There was no intensive care unit at the hospital in those days, so the patient was given oxygen and eventually put on an old Beaver ventilator. As a newly graduated MD, Dr Anand was brought in from Bombay Hospital to monitor Sally round the clock. For several weeks, Dr Anand lived in the Breach Candy Hospital in the room next to Sally’s. The nearest hospital where she could get treatment for polio was in Los Angeles, 14,000 kilometres away. Sally’s husband, Amar Singh, was the vice president of a US multinational pharmaceutical company and had friends in high places. He tried using his high-level contacts to get Sally flown out of Bombay on an Air India flight, but that proved difficult. Miles away in Los Angeles, Sally’s brother Dr James Rosencrantz, chief of paediatric surgery in Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, was also pulling strings to get his sister flown out of Bombay. Eventually, Sally’s plight reached the ears of US President Richard Nixon, who ordered a US Air Force C-130 Hercules turboprop military plane to transport Sally from Bombay to Frankfurt via Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. The onward flight from Frankfurt to Washington DC and then to LA was done on US military aircraft, with Dr Anand regularly monitoring his patient throughout the long and uncomfortable flight. Sally never fully recovered from polio, but lived well into her 80s, surrounded by her loving family and friends. Hers was a fascinating story of love triumphing over adversity, her husband and brother doing everything in their power to get her stabilized and recover to the extent possible, with RCPC’s very own Dr Anand Bhatia playing an important role in his patient’s care. Earlier in the evening, President Ajay Chitnis thanked several RCPC members for their generous donations for various club projects, gave a quick update on ongoing Eye Check-up Camps, General Health Check Up Camps, the Patient Care Attendant Course, and Rotary’s World Values Day event. President Ajay added that the Nominating Committee Election would be held on November 18, 2023. Rtn. Nitin Rajore introduced new members Mr. Vineet and Ms. Rohini Jain, who were administered the pledge by President Ajay. Birthday greetings were offered to Rtn. PP Dr. Anand Bhatia, R’Ann Shubh Sachdeva, R’Ann Kamini Sanghvi, R’Ann Nargis Chaney, R’Ann Swati Kene, R’Ann Kalpana Merchant, R’Ann Madhu Tewari, Rtn. Nitin Desai, Rtn. Sagar Khandelwal, Rtn. Jayant Luthra, and R’Ann Dhanshree Sandu. |