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 A Triumph of the Human Spirit: From Cardiac Bypass to Everest Bypass

Overcoming Adversity: The Inspiring Story of Dr. Malur R Vijay

Scaling New Heights: Dr. Vijay's Quest to Inspire Others After Quadruple Cardiac Bypass Surgery

At a time when many people assume that life comes to an end after heart surgery, septuagenarian Dr. Malur Ramanna Vijay is conquering mountains even after undergoing a quadruple bypass heart surgery. He is the first person in the world to reach Mount Everest Base camp (5,364 m) after a cardiac attack, and now he is all set to scale Mount Fuji (highest mountain in Japan at an altitude of 3,776.24 m) at the age of 80. Dr. Vijay was born in Bengaluru and was a successful medical professional in the UK and US. He plans to share his experiences with Bengalureans, start charity work to help 'Children of Gods,' and open a hostel exclusively for women students.

Recalling his past, Dr. Vijay met with an accident in 1988 which resulted in a head injury and partial loss of sight. As a consequence of the head injury, his intellectual facet of memory was affected, making him ineligible to practice medicine. Within three months of the accident, he had to undergo quadruple cardiac bypass surgery that further compounded his health issues.

At a press conference in the city, Dr. Vijay said, "I underwent a quadruple bypass at the age of 55 as all the four blood vessels that feed my heart were blocked. I was thinking of heading on a pilgrimage. Then, while researching, I realized that I have to head to the Himalayas. When I researched, I realized that no one who had a heart surgery had traveled to Everest Base camp (EBC). The magnetic pull of the mountain was such that I headed there after adequate preparations and family consent. When I reached there, I got to know that a French man (who had a history of heart and not a heart surgery) had scaled up to 14,000 feet and returned. Hence, I became the first person with a history of heart surgery to reach EBC. However, as I reached, the news reached far and wide, and I got a chance to meet the then Nepal Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, who appreciated my efforts."

There was no looking back for Dr. Vijay since then. After EBC, his next target was to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania ( 5,895 m). "In fact, I celebrated my 70th birthday at the summit. Then, I decided that for my 75th birthday, I have to visit Mount Fuji. However, COVID poured cold water on my plan. Now, as the COVID cases have settled down, I have renewed my interest in Mount Fuji shortly," he said.

Dr. Vijay believes that his experience disproves the assumption that heart attacks or heart surgeries mean the end of life. He urges people to think that their heart is younger after cardiac surgery and live their life to the fullest. He says that there is no good or bad food, only adequate food in proportion to height and weight.

Dr. Vijay comes from an illustrious family. His paternal grandfather, Dr. ML Ramanna, was the first Indian doctor serving at Victoria Hospital, while the other four were Britishers. Dr. Vijay was born in Chamarajpet. His father, Mr. Ramanna, served as director of Physical Education at the University of Mysore, and his mother, Lakshmidevi Ramanna, was elected as MLA from Chamarajpet, Hosakote, and Anekal and served as a member of legislative assembly for around 17 years.

Dr. Vijay's ancestral family has donated a free girls hostel (Lakshmi Devi Ramanna Girls Hostel) in Jayanagar seventh block. He wants to serve as education for poor children. He says, "Throughout my life, I have witnessed individuals who were once full of energy, actively engaged in life, and charismatic, only to suddenly deteriorate both physically and mentally due to the fear of having a cardiac condition. In my book, I describe how my life was before and after my cardiac surgery, and how it changed me. I learned that by keeping myself physically fit and accepting the reality of life, taking it one day at a time, I was able to accomplish what I have. I am not any different from any other individual. If someone like me, who lost their intellectual memory due to an accident followed by quadruple cardiac bypass surgery, can handle this, anyone can do it, as long as they keep an open mind and a strong will to live their life."

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Malur R Vijay is a physician from Bangalore Medical College in India. After working as a lecturer in Anatomy at the same institution for two years, he moved to England in 1972 to specialize in Orthopedic Surgery and research related to orthopedics. He holds patents for his inventions in the field. In 1979, he moved to the US, completed his residency program at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, VA, and a fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury at McGuire Veterans Hospital, also in Richmond, VA. As part of the Fellowship Program, he went to Harvard University for non-surgical sports medicine training. He then became Unit Chief of the Department of Spinal Cord Injury at McGuire Veterans Medical Center in Richmond, VA in 1986. In 1992, he set up a Sports Medicine Centre in Boston, MA.

In 1998, Dr. Vijay had an accident that resulted in a head injury and partial loss of sight. As a result of the head injury, his intellectual memory was affected, rendering him ineligible to practice medicine. Within three months of the accident, he had to undergo quadruple cardiac bypass surgery, further compounding his health issues.

Despite the adversities, Dr. Vijay faced them with fortitude, giving neither self-pity nor bitterness towards life. He saw an opportunity in misfortune and started to volunteer for various causes, such as 'Meals on Wheels' and the 'Big Brother' organization.

In 2003, at the age of 60 and after quadruple cardiac bypass surgery, Dr. Vijay scaled the Base Camp of Mount Everest from Lukla after trekking for seven days and two and a half hours. He accomplished this feat not only to inspire other cardiac patients but also to motivate people who are at the nadir of their fortunes not to give up.

Dr. Vijay epitomizes the "triumph of the human spirit over adversity." He lives by his motto of "LIVE life every day and die once, instead of DYING every day of fear and never living for a day." The doctor has plans to start a socially conscious organization to provide quality education opportunities for economically disadvantaged school-going kids, to eradicate hunger among young children and older people, to motivate the youth of India to take active interest in social service and politics, and to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots in terms of material and knowledge.

Dr. Vijay is also the author of the book "From Cardiac Bypass to Everest Bypass," which presents the vicissitudes of his life encompassing the entire gamut from mundane to extraordinary, filled with experiences that are happy, sad, depressing, exhilarating, and spiritual. This book narrates the successful, disastrous, joyous, tragic, adventurous, and spiritual events of his life, making it a cocktail of all of the above.