Lokayukta’s son finishes child’s heart surgery before rushing to hospital  

BENGALURU: Senior cardiac surgeon Dr Ravishankar Shetty, son of Lokayukta Justice Vishwanatha Shetty, was an image of calm courage as he operated on the heart of a six-year-old when he received news about the brutal knife-attack on his father on Wednesday afternoon.Overcoming extreme anxieties or overwhelming emotions when the news was broken to him even as he operated, his first thoughts were not about his father, but for the little patient on the operation table before him.

There were no confirmed reports about his father’s condition, or how bad he was or whether he was even alive or not. Pushing all those thoughts aside, Dr Shetty left his operation theatre at MS Ramaiah Narayana Heart centre only on completing the surgery and ensuring that the patient under his care was successfully operated on.According to the surgical staff and colleagues who assisted him in the surgery, Dr Ravishankar was there for more than an hour after receiving the news of the attack on his father.

Dr Naresh Shetty, president, MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospitals, said, “We received information about the incident and immediately informed Dr Ravishankar; but he decided to complete the surgery as he had already started the procedure. He did not do it in a hurry. He was there for more than an hour even after getting the information. As we observed he did not get tensed. He did his job calmly.”

When contacted, Dr Ravishankar said, “I was conducting a surgery on 6-year-old girl and the child came under the BPL quota. At that moment attack on my father was a shock, but I had to overcome it within few seconds. Had I got nervous or my concentration disturbed, it would have had an impact on my patient. I did not let my mind to think about anything else apart my patient at that moment.”Even immediately after completing high-precision cardiac surgery, although very worried about his father’s plight, Dr Ravishankar’s first act was to speak a few comforting words to the little girl’s parents. Only then did he leave in a Hoysala police vehicle for Mallya Hospital to check on his father.