Aishwarya Trust celebrated its 12th Annual Day on 14th March 2020 at MGM Hospital, Chennai. Mr. N Murali, Chairman, Kasturi & Sons Limited and President of The Music Academy, was the Chief Guest. About 20 of our beneficiaries, including a few heart transplant recipients, participated in the Annual Day Celebrations, along with their families. Also in attendance was our team of doctors at MGM Healthcare, Chennai, led by Dr. K R Balakrishnan, Chairman of Institute of Cardiac Sciences.

The Annual Day Celebration provided an opportunity for our Donors & Well-wishers to meet with some of our beneficiaries (including brave heart children) and our team of doctors & listen to their life journeys. It was also an occasion for us to rededicate ourselves to our mission of saving young lives born with CHD,  through early detection and treatment. A short film capturing Aishwarya Trust’s purpose and program was released on the occasion.

Ms. Chitra Viswanathan, Managing Trustee of Aishwarya Trust, welcomed the gathering. She used the occasion to thank our Donors for their generous contributions, the team of Doctors for their selfless service and our partner hospital MGM for their wholehearted support.

Lauding Aishwarya Trust and the team of doctors for their yeoman service in combating infant mortality due to CHD, Mr. N Murali, the Chief Guest at the Annual Day, noted that child healthcare continues to be neglected by public health policies and even private hospitals. He said it was heartening to see people like cardiothoracic surgeon K.R. Balakrishnan, who is a trustee of Aishwarya Trust, to come forward even in the face of such constraints to transform the lives of people.

Dr. Balakrishnan, in his keynote address, pointed to the anomaly of very few dedicated children’s hospitals in the country. Speaking about the activities of the trust, he said “The trust has been supporting clinical work for heart diseases in children through surgery and transplant programme. Going forward, we have some important research projects in the pipeline. One of them is to create an artificial heart pump. This will bring more affordable heart care to larger sections of the society.”

HDFC Life and Terumo India, two of Aishwarya Trust’s principal donors were felicitated on the occasion. HDFC Life, one of India’s leading life insurance companies, is Aishwarya Trust’s largest Benefactor and Donor and have been supporting our CHD Program for the past 3 years. The active engagement of HDFC Life’s senior management with Aishwarya Trust’s activities has been a great source of motivation for all of us. A memento was presented to Mr. R Ramasubramanian, AVP of HDFC Life, on our Annual Day, as a mark of our gratitude. Terumo India has been a generous supporter of Aishwarya Trust for the past 4 years. Their support of and involvement in our Screening Program has been especially noteworthy – many of their employees have been enthusiastic volunteers in our screening programs over the years. Mr. Virender Bansal, Director – Finance of Terumo India, who attended the event, has been the driving force behind Terumo’s support of  Aishwarya Trust and a memento was presented to him as a token of our gratitude. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ramasubramanian and Mr. Virender Bansal praised Aishwarya Trust for its commitment to saving young lives and reaffirmed the continued support of their respective organizations to Aishwarya Trust’s comprehensive CHD program.

MGM Healthcare is Aishwarya Trust’s Hospital Partner at Chennai and Dr. Prashanth Rajagopalan, Director at MGM Healthcare, was felicitated on our Annual Day. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Prashanth praised the service orientation of the team of Doctors and reaffirmed MGM’s commitment to support Aishwarya Trust’s Program to the fullest extent.

The highlight of the Annual Day was the participation of about 20 of Aishwarya Trust’s beneficiaries, including some transplant recipients, along with their families. Gifts were distributed to the children to mark the occasion and they interacted with the Chief Guest and other dignitaries, sharing moments from their life journey.

Dr. Suresh Rao, Co – Director, Institute of Heart & Lung Transplant, MGM, proposed a vote of thanks.

 

Some highlights: