Sri Thangapandi's father passed away when he was all but 16 years of age. From then on it was a life of a struggle for both him and his younger brother Rajesh. Their mother took care of them as a single mother and when as they grew older Thangapandi and his brother both learnt the ropes of tailoring and started an independent business. This was the time when they both got married also and were doing well in the business, life was looking up after a long time and it was a closure of sorts after the hard life they had had since childhood.

But fate played another cruel trick with the family.

“I started having this pain in the chest. And also started feeling breathless after walking a little distance,” Thangapandi said.  Thangapandi and his family did not feel it was something serious and continued their lives as usual.

“Gradually the condition of my brother went on deteriorating to the extent that we felt that there was something pretty wrong with his health. Therefore, we took him to a hospital in Madurai,” Thangapandi’s brother Rajesh said.

Listening to the symptoms of the patient the doctors suspected correctly that Thangapandi may be having a heart problem. And made him go through several tests and eventually came to the conclusion that he his mitral valve was not functioning adequately and may have to be replaced.

“The cost of the surgery they quoted was so high that we could never imagine to pay that much money,” the Rajesh said.

The family visited several hospitals and everywhere they received the same reply. All hospitals they visited demanded several lakhs for the surgery and this sum was beyond the reach of the Thangapandi and his family.

In the meantime the situation of Thangapandi started going from bad to worse. While earlier the two brothers could run the business and earn money. Now only Rajesh was left as the sole bread earner. Thangapandi found it too tiring to sit for long durations he, therefore, remained away from work. Added to that were the expenses of the medicines that he was taking.

The family then visited a local hospital where the surgeons performed a Closed Mitral Valvotomy.  But after sometime the symptoms soon returned.  They were then suggested to visit a higher centre for replacement of the mitral valve.

 With scant resources and surging expenditure, eventually the family had to takes loans from various sources. Life looked hopeless. By this time Thangapandi’s health had become so bad that even sitting and having food was becoming difficult for him.

It is said that night is the darkest just before the breaking of the dawn. It was as if Swami was testing the whole family. Swami has often said that your tears are my test. And when the human being cries out saying Swami I cannot bear it any longer, Swami smiles and cradles them in His arms.

It was during that hopeless hour that a Sai Devotee from Madurai came to know about the plight of Thangapandi and his family and directed them to visit the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram. When Thangapandi heard that the surgery would be performed totally free of all charges in the hospital for all, the family could not believe their ears. But were re-assured by the Sai Devotees that it was indeed true.

Thangapandi and his wife reached the hospital soon after. The doctors in Swami’s hospital performed the required tests and then came to the same conclusion that he required a Mitral Valve Replacement and gave him a date to return for admission. 

According to Dr. Neelam Desai the Head of Department of Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, “the patient underwent Mitral Valve Replacement successfully and is doing well. Patient came to the institute in April 2022 and his 2D-ECHO shows his artificial valve is working well. Thus we see how Bhagawan is giving solace and a productive life to a young man who had lost all hopes of treatment, which in turn ended up affecting his livelihood and family well-being. Valve worth thousands of rupees is out of reach of a common man and add to it the cost of surgery, the poor can only dream of treatment. By building a hospital, which has cardiac surgical services being offered free of cost is a dream poor people can afford as a birthright and I and my team feel proud to work in this hospital offering solace to countless such people who are not able to access this medical care as it is far too superfluous in expense. Thangapandi is one of the few thousands who have benefited by Bhagawan's vision of medical aid and education must be free for man.”

After the surgery Thangapandi returned to his village and after a few days started going back to work with his brother. To make sure that he was taking the medicines on time and also getting his monthly blood tests done the Sevadal from the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organistion, Tamil Nadu have been following up with him as part of the Sai Rehabilitation Programme.

“As mentioned earlier we had made a lot of debts due to my brother’s illness, but now things have begun to improve. Due to Swami infinite grace, my brother is free of the illness and we have started working together again.  And now because we both are working with the money earned now we are paying back money to settle the debts that we had made earlier,” Rajesh said

“Swami has brought me out of my grave illness and I am going to be ever grateful to Swami. When I was in Swami’s hospital I read Swami’s saying, “Love All Serve All,” that one statement has remained stuck in my mind and in my own way I am trying to help people to reach Swami’s hospital if they require to undergo a treatment, which is available there,” Thangapandi said. “When I was down with the illness, I lost all self-confidence, but after the surgery gradually I regained my confidence and I was told specifically in the hospital that there is nothing to worry anymore and I can go back living like a normal human being and start working again.  I am getting my monthly blood test done and also taking the required medicines and I am back to being a productive individual again,” he added.