Hyderabad, May 16: What's in a name? For a 13-year old boy from a remote part of Tripura, the answer has meant the difference between life and death. Meet Abdul Kalam, a namesake of the President and a victim of chronic rheumatic heart disease, now recuperating at Care Hospital in Hyderabad after being operated upon for his condition. The surgery was performed by a team of doctors headed by Dr B Somaraju, a longtime friend and associate of President Kalam. The President came across his namesake in October last year during interaction with patients from different places in the North-East as part of the inauguration of Care's Telemedicine project in the region. Speaking to one of the patients, the President and all present received a surprise when the voice at the other end identified itself as belonging to Abdul Kalam. Surprise gave way to amusement when it remained unclear for a few moments whether the boy was giving his name over the telephone or calling the President by name. When it was understood that the boy was also named Abdul Kalam, everybody had a good laugh and perhaps it also caught the attention of Dr Abdul Kalam, said one of Care's doctors who was present at the time. Dr Kalam was moved by the plight of the boy, who was not in a position to afford the costly treatment for his heart disease as his parents, with six children to feed, are very poor. Dr Kalam assured the boy that his problem would be taken care of. At the time, the boy's condition was deteriorating and he was coughing blood. A few months after that brief interaction with the President, the boy was flown from Tripura to Hyderabad. A team of doctors then performed a balloon dilation operation on him.
"Now I am feeling much better," Abdul Kalam said on Thursday. "I am very, very grateful to Rashtrapatiji. It is because of him that I could come here and get the treatment," he said. Dr B Somaraju, Chairman of the Care Hospital, said that the condition of the boy is good and that he is improving fast. He said that Care's Agartala unit will be monitoring the boy and he has been asked to visit the hospital there every six months. But that's not all the good news for Abdul Kalam. Care Hospital has decided to bear all the expenses of his treatment, including travel expenses. It may be recalled here that Dr Abdul Kalam had a long and close association with Care Hospital as well as the Care Foundation when he was in Hyderabad working on the missile development. It was during this association that Dr Kalam and Somaraju developed the first indigenous stent, later named the Kalam-Raju stent.