PANAJI
When critique and stories of the shortcomings at Goa Medical College and Hospital abounded through its navigation of the now ebbing second Covid-19 wave, the braveheart anecdotes of Dr Rachita Gupta Velho narrated by her colleagues cannot but accentuate the nobility of the medical fraternity.
Gupta Velho, a top consultant at the GMC breathed her last on June 10 due to a post-Covid cardiac arrest and fought the pandemic every step of the way, alongside colleagues and subordinates.
She played a vital part along with colleagues and subordinates, in saving hundreds of lives, shuttling for duties between the GMC at Bambolim and the other government Covid facilities in Margao as and when duty called through the 15 months or so of the pandemic.
She also doubled up as a teacher of Medicine at the GMC and was at the core of the premier medical institution’s Department of Medicine for several years.
“At the very core a classic doctor. Dedicated, empathetic and an honest, tireless beaver at work,” wrote Dr Oscar Rebello of Gupta Velho.
Gupta Velho belonged, by marriage, to the prominent Panaji-based Velho family. She leaves behind her husband Verner, two daughters - Avantika and Shamika - and son Vishwaraj.
GMC and the government healthcare sector has scores of such heroes who fought and still fight on the frontlines, unrecognised or acknowledged.
As is often said, the real worth of the jewels we have gets known only when we lose them, as we do in the case of Dr Rachita Gupta Velho.
Remembering Dr Rachita, Dr Amit Das, faculty, Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, GMC said, “I am deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague Dr Rachita. She served in the department of Medicine at the GMC and more recently worked as a frontline warrior in reaching out to the people affected with Covid, both in GMC as well as the SDH Hospital in Margao. She was very dedicated and compassionate to her patients, and also considerate to her students. I express my deepest condolences to her husband, children, parents and family members”.
