Harassed Indian investor pulls at the heartstrings of Sri Lankan patients

 K. P. Nagaraja (Extreme left) seen with Members of Kochi West and Colombo West Rotarians

By Nirmala Kannangara

Despite having been subject to much harassment at the hands of two government higher officials when he visited Sri Lanka to make a huge investment in the Kantale Sugar Factory few years ago, the Indian investor from Bengaluru, K. P. Nagaraja still remains in the country helping out to bring a smile to the faces of children who are suffering from complicated heart conditions and congenital heart diseases.

The Indian Investor, who made a complaint to the Bribery Commission a few years ago against the then President’s Chief of Staff and a former Chairman of a State Institution for soliciting a bribe to hand over him the Kantale Sugar Factory, its land and equipment despite having cabinet approval, has come forward to help the needy children. These children will be helped to undergo heart surgeries free of charge at Amrita Hospital in Kochi, India; this hospital is a renowned Pediatric Cardiac hospital. 

With the assistance of Global Grant Project of Rotary International together with the Rotary Club of Colombo West and Rotary Club of Kochi West, 140 heart surgeries have been performed on Sri Lankan children- from infants to 15 year old children since 2018 to date.

Nagaraja, who is the brain child of ‘Save a Kid’s Life’, is the force behind all success of this project. He is the President of Rotary Club of Colombo West for 2025/ 26.

“By the time I joined the Rotary Club of Colombo West in 2017, they were getting these pediatric cardiac operations locally. Then I got the Rotary Club of Kochi West involved in this project and got the Global Grant Project to help this meritorious deed financially. I am the main coordinator in this and happy to see how the project has succeeded so far,” K.P. Nagaraja said,

According to him, before he could get involved with the Rotary Club of Kochi West and the Global Grant Project, he was able to coordinate with the Amrita Hospital, and was able to send five Sri Lankan children to India to get their heart operations done free of charge.

“Later we were able to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Health Sri Lanka, Amrita Hospital and Rotary Clubs of Colombo West and Kochi West. The Global Grant Project is giving us funds while the Kochi and Sri Lankan Rotary Clubs were able to raise funds from their respective well-wishers. Under this MoU, in 2022, 55 children were sent for their operations while 30 nurses and three doctors were sent for advance training,” he said.

140 successful heart surgeries

In order to celebrate 140 successful heart surgeries performed on Sri Lankan children, a programme was held in Colombo on July 12 with the participation of all 140 children, their families together with the Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon of Amrita Hospital, Prof. Brijesh P. Kottayil and Colombo and Kochi Rotarians under the banner of ‘Save a Kids Life’.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon Prof. Brijesh P. Kottayil, who himself is a Rotarian, said that the entire staff of Amrita Hospital is providing their services free of charge and patients from countries like Philippines, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia and African too are treated at this hospital. Since the travel time to Kochi from these countries are time-consuming, Prof. Brijesh said that the medical team doesn’t recommend them to bring these children to Amrita Hospital as it can be risky. But for the Sri Lankan children, since they can arrive in Kochi from Colombo within 45 minutes they are the most beneficiaries of this project.

“The two Rotary Clubs- Kochi West and Colombo West are the partners of this project. During 2023/ 24 we were able to perform 58 heart surgeries on Sri Lankan children. All these critical surgeries have been very successful. As part of the second phase of this project, we provided advance training for 30 nurses and three Consultants from the Lady Ridgway Hospital (LRH),” Prof. Brijesh said.

According to Prof. Brijesh, six Pediatric Cardiologists, three Pediatric Cardiac Surgeons and six Pediatric Cardiac Intensivist are involved in this project at Amrita Hospital.

“After examining the patients who go to the LRH, if their conditions are serious, the reports are sent to Amrita Hospital through the Rotary Club of Colombo West. Once we study these reports, we give them the instructions as to when these operations could be performed and based on those data, the children are sent. Up to now we have performed more than 1500 Pediatric Cardiac procedures from all over,” claimed Prof. Brijesh.

Meanwhile, Nagaraja said that only one parent can accompany the child and added that they are not charged for the operations or for other services.

“We only request them to provide the passports to us. The Indian High Commission in Colombo issues the visas free of charge within a few hours after handing over the passport and the necessary documentations. The air tickets, transportation from the airport to the hospital, food and lodging are provided at no cost. After the operation, we allow the parents to visit the children once a day, but the medical team keeps them informed of the progress of their children’s recoveries. As most of the parents cannot understand Tamil or English whilst in India, we made it a point to send a Tamil child with the parent who can translate what the medical staff says into Sinhala,” Nagaraja added.    

He further said how the hospital provides a mobile phone for each parent once a week, to call their families in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, B.L. Nisansala from Kurunegala told how she got the opportunity to take her one-year-old son Iman Adeesha to Amrita Hospital. Iman was suffering a hole in the heart plus severe other heart conditions.

“Two days after my son’s birth, I heard a scary noise from his heart. My son never drank milk from me. The moment he sucked the nipple the milk came out from his nose. Only formula was given to him. His body turned blue most of the time. When he was taken to the Kurunegala Hospital, an echo test was done and we were told that one of the valves in his heart is very thin and part of the cardiac muscle is very thick. Apart from these conditions there were two holes in his heart. We were told that my son will have to undergo three separate operations to correct all these defects, but only after he turns one year. According to the Pediatric Cardiologist at Kurunegala Hospital, these three operations have to be done during three stages and for each operation the duration would be more than eight hours. We were also told that these three operations could be performed in a private hospital and for each operation it would cost Rs.2.5 million. I have two elder children and am a housewife. My husband is in the Navy and we live in a rented out house. Under such a situation, it would have been a dream to find Rs.7.5 million for the three operation,” Nisansala said.

She further said how she decided to take her son to the LRH for a second opinion. After examining my child, Pediatric Cardiologist Dr. Duminda Samarasinghe had asked her whether she would like to take the child to Amrita Hospital in Kochi; she was told the operation would be free of charge. She had not given a commitment, but before leaving the LRH she had told Dr. Samarasinghe that she would like to take the child to India.

“No sooner I returned to my home in Kurunegala, I received a call from the Rotary Club of Colombo West. They wanted us to send my son’s reports to them. As requested we forwarded them the details and we were asked to get the passports of my son’s and mine ready. Since there is a long delay to get passports, I had to get the process expedited by showing my son’s reports and the letters sent to us from India. Within a month after meeting Dr. Samarasinghe, we were taken to India. I accompanied my son and few more children and their parents too joined us on October 14, 2024. We only had to hand over our passports. Visas were issued free of charge by the Indian High Commission in Colombo and my son was provided everything from tooth brush, wet wipes to pampers without any cost,” she added.

She further said how they were given telephones once a week to contact the families in Sri Lanka. 
“Although we were told in Sri Lanka, that three operations have to be done in three stages to correct my son’s condition, in Kochi, my son’s condition was corrected from one operation, which took more than eight hours. He was kept in the ICU for seven days as he got Pneumonia. During that period I was allowed only one visit per day to see him. Since I knew my son was in safe hands I was not worried,” she further said.

She further recalled how the doctors in Sri Lanka did not give any assurance that her son’s life could be saved and how they wanted her to make up the mind as she was having two elder children. 

“The doctors at Amrita Hospital gave us an assurance and always wanted us not to give up hopes, but have faith in them. Even our children were given soft toys and the entire medical staff- from Consultant doctors to the service providers were like ‘Gods’. They were so kind to us. We all came back on November 1, 2024, after 21 days. We were brought to the airport by them and even when we returned to Sri Lanka we were warmly welcome by the officials of the Rotary Clubs of Colombo West and Kochi West. We are grateful to Mr. Nagaraja and the other officials at the Rotary Club of Colombo West,” Nisansala said.

Speaking to Daily Mirror, Piyumi from Ganemulla, Kadawatha said how her son Jevon Romeru who was suffering from multiple holes in his heart from his birth started to live a normal life two weeks after the operation.

“My son was very sick and after seeing the echo reports, doctors at LRH told us that there are multiple holes in my son’s heart and a surgery had to be done immediately to correct the severe condition. Although they said that we have to get the operation done as soon as possible, they could not take my child for an immediate operation as there was a long waiting list. It is at this time that Pediatric Cardiologist Dr. Duminda Samarsinghe called and told me about the service and treatment at Amrita Hospital and I agreed at once. This is my first trip overseas and together with my son, another six children went with the parents. Two weeks after the operation, my son was fully recovered. We left the country on October 5, 2022, and returned on October 28, 2022. I am in debt to the Rotary Clubs of Colombo West and Kochi West and the  entire staff at Amrita Hospital for the services they provided to bring smiles on to the faces of not only the children, but also to the parents,” said Piyumi.