: It was a special birthday that was celebrated at the Sri Ramakrishna Hospital here on Tuesday. For, more than 60 children with cancer cut a cake and enjoyed the day with their parents.
Rather than celebrating the birthday of one of their own, these kids were rejoicing in celebrating the 84 birthday of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who has a huge fan following among the young generation, particularly the children.
These students were beneficiaries of the free treatment provided by the Paediatric Oncology Ward of the Sri Ramakrishna Care Trust, which was inaugurated a decade back by the former President himself. The celebrations were organised by the Lead India 2020 Foundation.
Speaking to the kids over phone, Mr. Kalam inquired about their health and the treatment being provided to them besides whether they were attending schools. The children also conveyed birthday wishes.
The Foundation also took around 150 special children to a 5-D Animated Movie in a mall.
They were also treated to a lunch. It was organising the birthday celebrations for the third consecutive year with the previous two years being celebrated with children with visual impartment and speaking and hearing impairments. P. Guhan, Director, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Oncology and Research (SRIOR), says the trust has screened more than 2.10 lakh women form cervical and breast cancer. It had also treated more than 400 children with a success rate of nearly 75 per cent.
Archana Patnaik, District Collector; Air Commodore O.E.M. Menon, Commanding Officer, Air Force Administrative College; Colonel Praveen, Director (Recruitment), Army Recruiting Office; P.P. Pauly, Commandant, Rapid Action Force (105 battalion ); A.K. Viswanathan, Commissioner of Police; R. Vijayakumar, Joint Managing Trustee, SNR Sons Charitable Trust; C.R. Swaminathan, President of Lead India 2020 Foundation, Secretary M.N. Padmanabhan, and coordinator J. Sathish Kumar, took part in the function.
