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| Thankam, Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram |
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She must have been destined to bring consolation to the desolate cancer patients. Or else why should a girl who had been selected to Ayurveda course in medical entrance exam, opt to become a nurse against the strong opposition of family members - except her father.
Their opposition was all the more natural since the family had not produced a nurse so far. But after Thankam joined Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram 5 years ago, more confirmation of her calling in life was to happen.
She was selected to undergo training in palliative care at Brook University, Oxford, England. And today she is the only Indian nurse to have undergone this course.
“The training period was a turning point in my life. The awareness that my life is meant for bringing solace to cancer patients became deep rooted in me,” she says.
For many patients she is not only the breeze of love and care during their last days, but also the guardian angel at the time of their death. “ I find it difficult to face those moments even now. As the body struggles for the last breath, the dying one will look pleadingly into the nurse’s eyes. Some hold tight our fingers, as if begging us never to forsake them. Experiencing the last quiver of life in those fingers is so depressing,” she says.
“These faces will be there for a few days in the mind. Even after returning home, one is haunted by the memories. And the next day, another death: here life is a series of farewells.”
“I too have changed a lot after coming here. Now I am no longer afraid of death,” says this young nurse.
Courtesy: Jolly Adimatra (text), G.Binulal (photo), Gruhalakshmi, April 2003
Contributed by: Administrator
