Selflessness, Humility and Nobility... Dr Adeeb Rizvi

SELFLESSNESS,HUMILITY AND NOBILITY

marks of an honorable person

There is a Chinese saying“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime help others"!

This morning a friend told me a very tragic but a moving true story which made me realize that there are still so many noble people in Pakistan who know very well how to take care of each other.

It's the story of a old retired college professor who worked hard all his life, raised 5 children, one son and four daughters. His daughters are all settled in Karachi but he sent his son to United States to study medicine, his son did his residency and decided to settle in USA. The parents never complained, life moved on they received few hundred dollars every month from the son and few visits from him from time to time. The mother passed away three years back and after her death the father was diagnosed with renal failure, he needed dialysis. His older daughter whom he stayed with called her brother " Abu needs medical care, why don't you call him to US and get his dialysis over there, he will be happy to spend some time with your children".

" Treatment will be very expensive I can't afford it, I will send some money, you guys take him to a doctor there", the son replied.

Soon the daughters took their father to SIUT ( Sindh institute of urology), they met with Dr Adeeb Rizvi the head of the institute who guided them about the treatment plan. Soon his treatment started, Dr Rizvi greeted him every time he arrived for dialysis sat with him for some time, talked about his college, politics and cricket. Soon the doctor and the patient became good friends.

The father died after a year, when his son came for the funeral, the daughter handed him an envelope with $15,000 which he had sent for his fathers treatment and a letter.

" My dear Beta, I tried my best to teach my son the importance of good education, hard work, your mother and I worked very hard to make you an honest and trustworthy human being but we failed in teaching you "nobility", nobility in your deeds and selflessness.We failed to teach you to help others. I salute Dr Rizvi"s parents who taught their son nobility, who left a prosperous career in UK to come back to Pakistan to help the sick and the poor families of this country. Please Beta try to teach nobility to your children otherwise you will miss your well educated physician son everyday in the final months of your life, I was lucky enough to find another son in Dr Adeeb Rizvi but maybe you will not...", wrote the father in his letter.

 The public healthcare system in Pakistan, as in many developing countries, struggles with extreme shortage  of resources. Sindh  Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) is  one man’s passion to provide top-class medical treatment, at no cost to the poor and sick people of his country.

In 1972, Dr  Rizvi set up a small urology unit in Karachi in Civil Hospital Karachi.

SIUT has grown from just eight beds to over 650 beds at nine separate centres across Pakistan and today is the largest health organisation in the country.
I have met Dr Rizvi just once very briefly but have heard many stories about his dedication to his work. He is the first one to arrive at SIUT in the morning and the last one to leave.He is a friend to all his patients and his employees. Everyone( patients from any background)is treated equally in SIUT.

I am thankful to God for everything He has given me, for all His blessings. I also wish and pray for nobility in my deeds...