Restoring lives, courtesy the good doctor

RK Saboo

I CAME to know Dr PS Chari and his wife Dr Pramila in 1979 when he joined the Rotary Club of Chandigarh. Eventually, Dr Chari became head of plastic surgery from 1991-2002 and his wife the head of anaesthesiology from 1988-2005 at PGI. A man of few words, he is a very competent plastic surgeon, devoted to his profession and patients.

In 1998, Usha and I started the medical missions serving beyond borders to Africa. The aim was to extend curative medical treatment to the poorest of poor patients in needy countries where these surgical facilities are not adequately developed. Another important objective was to impart surgical skills and medical care to the local doctors.

Dr Chari accompanied us on many medical missions to Africa and various parts of India, and each time he performed life-changing miracles. Each mission was replete with his success stories. I will just mention a few here.

Back in 1999, our second medical mission was to Ethiopia. Dr Chari accompanied the team as there was no plastic surgeon in Ethiopia. When no patients for plastic surgery came, I spoke to the hospital director. He said he did not announce Dr Chari’s availability because there would be an unmanageable crowd of patients. On our assurance, the director agreed and radio announcements were made throughout the country. The next day, there were long lines of patients. In the coming days, Dr Chari performed countless plastic surgeries, including severe burn cases. He continued till the last few hours, when we had to pick him up on way to the airport.

In 2011, we were in Malawi. A man was badly bitten on the face by a voracious dog owned by a white lady. This took an ugly racial turn. I asked Dr Chari if he could restore the patient’s face. Dr Chari agreed and with Dr GS Kochhar, an anaesthesiologist, the surgery was successfully completed in five hours. This episode was widely appreciated by national TV and the print media. The President of Malawi asked their Health Minister to visit the patient and commend the doctors.

After the most inhuman genocide in Rwanda, almost 400 people were living a life of anger and shame locked up in their homes because their faces were badly torn. Rwanda’s Health Minister made a special request for Dr Chari and his team to visit the country and treat the injured. The team restructured nearly 300 cases. It was a moment of great pride for Dr Chari and for India. It became highly acclaimed news in the whole of Africa.

Back home in India, Dr Chari peformed many near-impossible surgeries, of which one is noteworthy. That in Sikar, Rajasthan, in 2013, of a four-year child with a rare deformity. It was as if a divine hand was working through the good doctor.

On November 7 this year, Rotary’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on Dr Chari, a most competent plastic surgeon and a human being par excellence.  

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