Ferozepur woman, ‘118 yrs old’, world’s oldest to get pacemaker
Manav Mander
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 7
Said to be 118 years old, a woman from Ferozepur has become one of the oldest persons in the world to have a pacemaker fitted.
Kartar Kaur, who had never been to a doctor all her life, underwent surgery to implant the device at SPS Hospital here after being found to have a weak heartbeat. Doctors claimed she had become the oldest person to undergo the procedure, the last record being of a 107-year-old.
“We used to have a diet full of desi ghee and butter and would work strenuously to digest the fats. As such, we never landed in a doctor’s clinic. It’s at this age that I had to go under the knife and all went well as I had taken good care of myself when I was young,” the centenarian was quoted as saying.
Dr Ravninder Singh Kuka, interventional cardiologist, said Kartar Kaur’s was a unique case, but they took it as a challenge. “When she was admitted, she was unconscious and her blood pressure was low too. We used a temporary pacemaker to tide over the immediate threat and started preparing for the bigger challenge (of a permanent implant),” said Dr Kuka. “But a coordinated effort and her strong will helped us pull it off.”
Kartar Kaur has two children: her daughter, 88, retired from government service and her son from the British Army.
