Dr KK Aggarwal: A man devoted to public welfare and health awareness; void left by him won't be easy to fill

I could not even imagine it in my worst of dreams that I would have to write an Obit to Dr KK Aggarwal, who was eight years younger to me.

It was a tragic end to one of the Messiahs of health, who through his online lessons since last one year was saving thousands of people from going to Hospitals, unless absolutely needed.

His videos on Corona related problems on YouTube have become viral as patients and their family members have been looking at them for guidance in these times when WhatsApp universities are flourishing, giving out weird urine therapy and other solutions for the deadly virus.

My vivid memories of him go back to the nineties when he used to organise health camps at Hindustan Times and through his numerous press conferences on medical issues in his capacity as President of Heart Care Foundation.

We lost touch in between after my transfers to Dehradun and Kanpur respectively.

But luckily I had not lost his number which proved to be life-saving for me when I suffered a severe chest pain in 2012 while going to office.

When I was rushed to a Heart Hospital in Noida by my son, the emergency staff immediately decided that I needed an angiography after I inadvertently mentioned that I had a bypass surgery in 2001.

In that state of uncertainty and shock, I looked up for Dr Aggarwal's number in my phone and luckily I had it. When I told him that I was going to be admitted, he almost shouted at me "Khabardar. Kanin nahi Janaa. Seedha mere pass aa Ja".

When I reached his Greater Kailash office he looked at my ECG report, checked my pulse and smiled "Amitabh main tujhe do din mein theek kar doonga". That was the level of his confidence.

He handed me a list of medicines to be taken and told me to come after 6 hours. In the evening he checked my ECG and Oxymeter and grinned,"Aaj Maine Tere Derh lakh Bacha liye." Plus, he did not charge me even for the tests as he said, he had never charged journalists! What do you call such a man if not God!

Since then I have been surviving on his prescriptions to control my diabetes, heart, blood pressure and numerous co morbidities that I am living with.

I don't know what I will do tomorrow.

But the kind of man he was, thousands of his followers must be feeling lost today, particularly at a time when the medical fraternity itself is confused about the kind of treatment that could save lives of COVID patients

Those who know him say that Padma Shri Dr Aggarwal was an innovator who touched the lives of millions. He is said to have shot into fame with the annual Perfect Health Melas which he organised regularly since 1993, for 27 years under the aegis of Heart Care Foundation.

His name was also synonymous with IMA Delhi Branch which he nurtured from grass roots to its present form that has a strong presence at the national level.

Earlier he was with the DMA where his annual reports ran into hundred pages of activities while he was its president.

After this, he moved gears and became the President of the Indian medical Association. He left a mark in the World Medical Association and CMAAO which is proud of his contribution. He was decorated with the prestigious BC Roy Award.

Born on Teachers day in 1958, he devoted his life educating and informing the masses about their maladies and how to overcome them.

His videos on Corona were seen all across the globe, making people aware about the infection and how to distinguish one disease from another.

The void left by him will not be easy to fill.

Such men are born once in centuries.