About 10 years ago, Dr P Senthil Kumar began his journey with patients, most of them children, who had deformed hands, legs and hips. He became their hope, restoring their childhood by helping them walk and play again.Dr P Senthil Kumar began his journey with patients, most of them children, who had deformed hands, legs and hips“When I was a government doctor posted in Villupuram almost a decade ago, the collector asked me to identify and certify disabled people. On the first day, I identified and certified about 800,” says Dr Senthil, who went on to perform corrective orthopaedic surgeries for around 300 cerebral palsy patients and 150 children affected by congenital defects. Recognising the dedicated service of the 43-year-old orthopaedic surgeon from Tirupur , the government conferred him with the State Best Doctor award on Wednesday during the 72nd Independence day celebrations in Chennai.Working towards a society without physical disabilities, Kumar vows to provide medical care to anyone who is restricted by any physical deformity. He now runs Deepa Hospital in Tirupur with a special focus on ortho-related cases. “Like any other orthopaedic hospital, we concentrate on trauma care. But we provide special attention to corrective surgeries. In future, I want to build a multi-specialty rehabilitation centre exclusively for people with physical disabilities,” said Dr Senthil.He used his experience in Villupuram to train further with The Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu, which provides comprehensive care to disabled children. His first corrective surgery was in Tirupur government hospital. The smiles on the faces of children who are able to walk has been Dr Senthil’s motivation. “The objective of these surgeries is to make the children’s lives better than ever before, to make them independent or less dependent on their parents. Many children who underwent the surgeries here have started attending school. This is what brings me satisfaction,” he added.Since most of his patients are from poor families, he tries to ensure that they are able to avail the chief minister’s comprehensive health insurance scheme or get sponsorship from NGOs. “Most orthopaedic deformities can be corrected through early intervention, which includes surgery and physiotherapy. If corrective surgeries are done before children reach the age of two or three, they can become almost normal,” he said. The hospital provides them free food and also tries to financially support the needy. “But still, there are many who are unaware of corrective surgeries or where to go to seek treatment.”On his part, Dr Senthil has organized camps as part of his hospital’s outreach programme in remote areas and sometimes in tribal belts. “Now, we receive many patients who are referred by children who were rehabilitated by us,” said the doctor.

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