A passion to perform

“For anything new to happen, you have to have a little bit of madness. Some people call it passion, some call it madness... but there still have to be people who are actually interested in doing something new,” says Dr Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale.

And the words are true for just about every person who has been considered a pioneer in their respective fields. Within the realm of cardiothoracic medicine — concerning the heart and lungs — Dr Gokhale is more than just a pioneer.

Conducting the first live heart transplants in 2004, and then the first lung transplant in 2012, Dr Gokhale’s recent Padma Shri is about a lifetime’s worth of working for the people.

Currently a senior cardiothoracic consultant at Apollo Hospitals in Jubilee Hills, the 56-year-old has spent most of his life with a yearning desire to bring the best healthcare to the country.

He graduated with MBBS and MS degrees from Guntur Medical College in 1985 and then specialised in cardiac surgery at the Christian Medical College in Vellore in 1990. “At that point of time, I knew a lot of theory, but had no practical experience. So I joined Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences and got some experience in open-heart surgeries with Dr B.V. Ramarao, who I consider to be my guru. He told me to go to Australia to get experience in bypass and transplants,” says Dr Gokhale.

“Any innovation in medicine, if you offer it first to those who can afford it, only then will it slowly percolate down to the common man. Bypass surgeries were first affordable only to the rich. But then the government introduced health schemes and today even the poorest man can walk into a hospital with a card and get things done,” he explains.

In 2004, when a patient approached him after being told by several doctors that his heart condition was untreatable. “I told him that the only way was a heart transplant but it could prove fatal if things go wrong,” he says, adding that the family had just about given up hope and said, “Do what you can.”

A few days after returning from another training session in the US, Dr Gokhale’s moment arrived. “It was around 9 pm, I was at a dinner party and I got a call from the Mohan Foundation informing me that there was a donor available. We began operating at 10 pm and by 10 am the next day it was done. It was very tense, but fortunately everything clicked,” he says.

Dr Gokhale also runs Sahrudaya, a medical and educational trust that conducted health camps and has even helped a number of children undergo necessary heart surgery. ensuring he really does help the “poorest man”.

The Padma Shri, he adds, is something that everyone in his family deserves for their unconditional support to him. “So many times we think we have achieved something, but there are so many people behind me who have made it all possible. This honour belongs to all of them,” Dr Gokhale concludes.