Scrap dealer spends Rs 10,000 to foot beggar''s hospital bill

Vishal Joshi
Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, January 6

Recovering from his orthopaedic surgery at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Civil Hospital (LNJPCH) here, a 45-year-old beggar, Kailash, expresses gratitude to Suresh Wadhwa for bearing all the cost of his medical treatment.

Wadhwa, a kabadiwala or scrap dealer, has paid a bill of Rs 10,000 from his savings for a metal rod needed for the beggars fractured leg.

The only relationship they have is that the two regularly sip tea at a roadside teashop on Pipli road.

A native of Katihar in Bihar, Kailash is living alone in a jhuggi on Ladwa road. His right leg was fractured after an unknown vehicle hit him near Pipli last month.

Suresh ji was always kind enough by offering me tea almost every morning. After I suffered a severe leg injury, he not only brought me to hospital but also bore entire expenses. I have no money or family member or relative in Kurukshetra to take care of me, Kailash tells The Tribune from bed number 26 on the first floor of the district hospital.

The 47-year-old good samaritan Wadhwa says he acted out of compassion and visits Kailash regularly at the hospital and serves fruits, snacks besides shaving kit etc. Despite a lowly monthly income between Rs 12,000-15,000 from buying domestic scrap at doorsteps, Wadhwa volunteered to help the hapless Kailash.

A shy Wadhwa says a few friends also contributed financially for Kailashs medical requirement.

On learning about his accident, I initially took him to a private hospital in the city but it was impossible for me to pay the estimated cost of Rs 50,000 for a metal rod implant. Later, Kailash was taken to LNJPCH and the rod sourced from a local chemist shop costed Rs 9,000. A doctor helped me in getting a concession on the implant, adds Wadhwa.

For last more than 10 years, I take a batch of 50 new devotees to the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage on a train in June and December. But for the first time in several years, I chose not to pay obeisance at Vaishno Devi as helping a needy person in more important, adds Wadhwa, also a regular blood donor.

On taking up such initiatives, Wadhwa says the life has given him a lesson. As I was travelling on a train to Delhi about 25 years ago, someone pushed me out of the moving train. Doctors presumed me dead when I was about to be cremated, my grandfather noticed slight movement in my limbs and I was rushed to a hospital in Kurukshetra and I survived. That moment made me to think towards life from a different angle, says Wadhwa, who lives with his wife and two children in Mohan Nagar locality.