At a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has kept most senior citizens indoors, an 87-year-old doctor from Mul in Maharashtra”s Chandrapur district continued braving the pandemic to reach his patients on a bicycle and provide them treatment.
The homeopathic doctor, Dr. Ramchandra Danekar, travels 10-15 kilometers on his bicycle daily to provide door-to-door medical treatment to the poor for close to 60 years.
Maharashtra: A 87-year old homoeopathic doctor in Chandrapur district braves #COVID19 pandemic to treat villagers. He travels 10 km barefoot on his bicycle daily to provide door-to-door medical treatment to the poor. He has been visiting patients on his bicycle for last 60 years. pic.twitter.com/E9OrHB7uOx
— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2020
The current health crisis has not deterred the practitioner of Homeopathy and Ayurveda from stepping out of his home.
“For the last 60 years, I’ve been visiting villagers almost daily. Due to fear of Covid-19, doctors are scared of treating patients but I have no such fear. Nowadays, young doctors are only after money, they do not want to serve the poor,” said Dr. Danekar.
After completing his diploma from the Nagpur College of Homeopathy in 1957-58, Dr. Dandekar worked as a lecturer at the Chandrapur Homeopathy College for a year, before shifting to rural areas to serve in villages.
His elder son Jayant Dandekar says the octogenarian has a fixed timetable for his visits to villages on weekdays and carries only his medical kit and medicines with him. He does not even carry a mobile phone or a watch during his trips.
Dr. Dandekar said that in his prime he used to cover many villages in a day and would even stay out for a day but due to growing age he now returns to his house at night.
“I will continue serving the people till my limbs are working,” an enthusiastic Dr. Danekar added.
Villagers in the area said that Dr. Danekar was always available for them round the clock at a single call and had continued working for them even during the pandemic phase.
“He is like a God for us, he is the only doctor who reaches us at any time on a single call. He has continued serving us even during the pandemic phase when others would refuse,” a villager said while others agreed with him and added that his services have helped many in the region.
