A couple donated the remains of their deceased son, a 22-year-old medical student who died of leukaemia.
Samkit Shah, a final-year medical student, had always aspired to be a doctor who would help the needy. He passed away on Thursday morning while awaiting the results of his last year of medical school.
“Samkit was a bright student with a great academic record. He wanted to be a doctor to serve the poor and enrolled in the medical college run by the Gujarat Medical Education Research Society in Gandhinagar four years ago. He was in the final year of MBBS when we lost him,” said Atul Shah, father of Samkit, who lives in Vasna and works as a postal services agent. Atul and Jayshree had just one son, Samkit, and a 20-year-old mentally challenged daughter. Instead of conducting his final rituals, the couple opted to give their son’s body to the NHL medical college.
“We took a loan for the medical education of our son but the almighty had a different plan. He frequently suffered from high fever since February and initial reports suggested that his white blood cells were on the decline. His health gradually deteriorated and later he was diagnosed with blood cancer. We didn’t inform him about the disease as he was preparing for his exams,” Shah said. His maternal aunt, a doctor at LG Hospital, conveyed the news to him about his cancer since the couple couldn’t bring themselves to inform him about his illness.
Despite his disease, Samkit continued to focus on his schoolwork, according to his family. His condition, however, deteriorated, and he had chemotherapy three times, including during his examination.
On March 14, he was taken to Jivraj Mehta Hospital, where he died on Thursday morning.
“His final year MBBS result will be announced next week though he is not here with us. We are confident he will be successful although he isn’t here to see himself becoming a doctor. He could not serve the people but to fulfil his wishes we decided to donate his body to the NHL medical college so students can study anatomy,” Shah said.
Despite the fact that his kid is not present, Shah believes that the donated body would benefit future physicians who will be able to treat the underprivileged. “This way my son’s wishes will be fulfilled,” said Samkit’s mother Jayshree.
