Back in those days, when people didn’t get access to basic medical facilities, problems haunted them like hell. Even if there were medical centres to address health problems, some people didn’t have enough money to pay for the expensive treatment and hence living became tougher for them.
Subhasini Mistry was one among the people in her village didn’t have the money to pay the medical expenses of her husband. She couldn’t afford treatment in the critical situation and as a result, her husband passed away and she was widowed at the age of 23.
Her husband’s name is Sadhan Chandra Mistry. He plied his trade as an agricultural worker and one day, he fell sick while working on the paddy farm. He suffered from diarrhoea and was immediately rushed to the hospital. Sadly the doctors and nurses paid no attention to the patient as his family was penniless.
The heartbroken Subhasini might have lost her husband but she made sure that this same situation shouldn’t repeat to others. It was when she decided to build a charity hospital so that even the economically backward sections of the society wouldn’t have to worry about the medical expenses and hospital charges.
Mistry tells IANS, “When my husband passed away, I was in shock initially. Then I realised I had four hungry mouths to feed… I had no education and couldn’t even tell the time. So I decided I would do whatever work that was available.”
Subhasini had to take care of her four children all by herself. The one-woman army worked hard day in day out as a housemaid, labourer, and then sold vegetables to make a living. Subhasini tells IANS, that she had put two of her own children in an orphanage because she couldn’t afford to educate them.
As per India Today, she saved as much as money to buy one-bigha (which is one-third of an acre) plot. However, in 1993, the Humanity Trust came into existence and the temporary clinic was set up with the help of the local residents.
Slowly, a permanent building of Humanity Hospital came to Hanspukur village near Kolkata in 1996. The hospital was inaugurated by the then-West Bengal governor, K.V. Raghunath Reddy.
Apart from building a hospital which runs on charity, her dream was to see one of her children to become a doctor in her hospital. Now, her son is one among the 12 doctors at the hospital. His name is Ajoy who is her younger son. He fulfilled his mother’s dream.
She told United Nations in India, adding that ‘no one should be denied medical attention’. While other hospital charges lakhs of rupees for surgeries, her hospital charges just Rs.10 for registeration fee and gives treatments for free. She has also launched another hospital at Sundarbans.
Now, Subhasini plans to make her hospital run like any other modern-day 24×7 facility hospital. She received ‘Padma Shri’ for her social work. Let’s take a moment to appreciate this lady for doing such a great job. It’s because of her, poor people are getting treated well at the right time.
