CHENNAI: “If I die, sprinkle my ashes all over the institute. I don’t want to leave this hospital,” Cancer Institute chairman Dr V Shanta had told hospital administrators and doctors over the weekend when she had mild chest discomfort. The 94-year-old senior oncologist died at 3.30am on Tuesday at Apollo Hospitals in the city after attempts to clear critical blocks in the blood vessels of her heart failed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in condoling the death of the veteran, a recipient of various coveted honours, including the three Padma awards and the Ramon Magsaysay Award.
The institution, which she built along with her mentor Dr S Krishnamurthy into a world-class facility, had been her home since April 1955 after her appointment as a resident medical officer.
On Tuesday, at 4.30pm, her body was taken in a procession with doctors, nurses, paramedics and her patients walking alongside to the Besant Nagar crematorium where it was consigned to flames with ‘police honours’. Her ashes will be collected and taken back to the hospital.
Until 8.30pm on Monday, she continued to do her work, discussed patient case sheets, inquired about ongoing research projects and dictated a letter to her personal assistant seeking funds for the institute. But when she complained of excruciating pain, a team of doctors convinced and shifted her to the Apollo Hospital for treatment. “There was blood vessel rupture. We couldn’t revive her,” said a senior cardiologist. Her body was placed in the hall of an old hospital building at Gandhi Nagar for public homage. “We kept the body of Dr Krishnamurthy in the same place. When he died, she ensured his ashes were sprinkled all around the institute. We will do it for her,” said her sister and a board member of hospital V Susheela, who also volunteers for the facility.
On Saturday, when she had mild chest pain, Dr Shanta, had written a note turning down invasive procedures or life support. “She told us she did not want elaborate last rites. She was more concerned about the institute,” Susheela said.
Born on March 11, 1927, in a distinguished family of Nobel laureates C V Raman and S Chandrasekar, Dr Shanta devoted her life to the field of oncology. She never married, stayed in a small room at the institute, and made quality and affordable cancer treatment accessible to patients across the country. Most patients who received treatment at the institute either got it for free or at a subsidised cost. “What made her a successful doctor and a powerful human being was that she kept patients at the centre of everything she did,” said institute’s senior oncosurgeon Dr Aravind Krishnamurthy.
She sourced funds for medicines and hospital infrastructure, inspired doctors, nurses and paramedics to be selfless, initiated several research studies about cancer and spread awareness about the disease. One of key achievements was her battle against the tobacco lobby. “She fought the tobacco giants, impressed upon the union health ministry to impose restriction of tobacco advertisements, ban gutka and pan masala and issue statutory warning on cigarette packs,” recalled onco-psychologist E Vidubala, a former employee of the institute.
“All the funds she received as rewards were pumped back into the hospital. She raised funds from philanthropists and corporates to build the hospital and make treatment affordable. She started a cancer registry for the city,” said institute’s epidemiologist R Swaminathan. “It was an active registry. Our staff will visit hospitals and talk to doctors to collect information about cancer patients in the city. It soon became a model to many other registries in the state and country,” he said. Dr V Shanta also served in several international and national agencies advising and advocating healthcare.
An alumna of the Madras Medical College, she joined the Cancer Institute founded by Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy – one of the first women graduates of medicine in India and a legislator – when the hospital had 12 beds. Dressed in simple crisp cotton saris and a white coat, she would walk through the hospital wards talking to patients and their attenders, and encouraging paramedics and hospital workers.