LUCKNOW: Conferred with the fourth Sena medal this Republic Day, Colonel Dr Sanjay Kumar Mishra, 48, made history to become India’s youngest and highest decorated officer in armed forces medical services.
But the road to glory straddles dirt tracks of a nondescript hamlet in eastern UP’s Mau district, where as a boy he would be carried on his mother’s arms to a village physician for medication. Weak, infirm and youngest among five siblings, Sanjay’s wobbly frame couldn’t bear the stress of 10km trek to a doctor in his native Vishwanathpur village. But the lean boy defiantly fought odds to join Army Medical Corps (AMC) and attributes his success to his mother Sampuranrani Mishra and grandmother Dipraj Mishra.
After bagging an MBBS degree from Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, he was commissioned into AMC in 1995. After his post-graduation in 2002, where he was honoured with commendation by the Army chief, the retinal surgeon successfully performed over 10,000 surgeries in his 25-year career.
The officer’s medal tally includes four Presidential medals, including two Sena medals (distinguished), two Vishisht Seva medals, four army chief commendations, four vice-chief and GOC-in-C commendation, a CISC commendation and DG Coast Guard medal.
Currently posted in Military Hospital (Research & Referral), Delhi, Dr Mishra credits his mother and grandmother for his record-breaking feat. “In my childhood, these two women would walk miles carrying me in their arms from our remote village to the nearest doctor for a medical check-up. I was lean and prone to illness. It was then I decided to become a doctor and help others like my mother.”
During his stint in Lucknow, Colonel Mishra established the state-of-art retinal centre in 2018, catering to patients from UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
“Earlier, only five eye surgeries were performed per day at Lucknow Command Central Hospital, but I pushed for 40-50 surgeries per operation theatre after establishing an advanced retinal centre. Taking cue from our success story, the current chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat asked me to help Shaurya Chakra para-commando Manchu, who lost vision in both eyes during a counter-insurgency operation in the Northeast. Today, the paratrooper has gained vision,” said Dr Mishra.
In his Lucknow tenure, Dr Mishra also performed surgeries on former vice chief of army Lt Gen Devraj Anbu, who was serving in Udhampur in 2018. Four months back, he performed a retinal detachment surgery on a 45-day-old baby weighing 1.5 kg. In 2006, he served in a UN mission as eye surgeon in Democratic Republic of Congo and helped many civilians to regain vision.
Inspired by Dr Mishra, his daughter Shreya Mishra, a student of Class 9, too wishes to become a doctor. His wife, Manorama Mishra, is an assistant professor at Noida-based government PG college. His father, Shriram Mishra, was a squadron leader in IAF and his elder brother Colonel Santosh Mishra is currently posted in Delhi as well.