My Brother Siddhi – An Angel

The incident of 8th Oct 1993 is still fresh in my mind when my brother Siddhi passed away in a road accident at the age of four and half. Although two and half decades have passed away, the entire event of the accident is still immaculately visible to me. True memories are not just about the recordings of the event and information in our brain, but some memories change the course of our lives. I will never forget it was Friday afternoon when I and my brother Siddhi were returning home from Kathmandu after picking him up from his school. We were running late to reach home so we were both anxiously waiting to reach our destination. The moment our car reached the Suryabinayak main center my brother Siddhi got out of the car hastily. Unfortunately, our car was parked on the other side of the road from where we had to cross for home. Siddhi swiftly got out of the car to run towards the home. I was just about to get out of the car when I heard a loud noise and next I could see the gathering of the people. Strange fear gripped me so I ran towards the crowd and saw my brother Siddhi was lying in a pool of the blood and crying with pain. I held him on my lap and cried for help but no help was immediately available. I will never forget those last words of my brother where he asked me “sister please help me I am in lot of pain”; helpless me could do little. It was such a misfortune that at that time there was no nearby hospital accessible where we could take him for emergency care. The only regret that will always remain with us, is that had there been a hospital nearby my brother would have survived.
As it is said curiosity is the mother of invention, likewise pain is the mother of change; this proverb became a reality in our lives. The intolerable pain of losing a son gave strong determination to my father to establish a charitable hospital in the memory of Siddhi, so innocent children like my brother wouldn’t have to lose life due to the lack of a nearby hospital. The pain of losing my only brother, who meant a world to me, made me realize too how scarce the healthcare facilities are in our area. To help fulfil my father’s determination to establish the hospital, I promised myself to become a medical doctor and serve as long as my health permits. This promise became the sketch of further life, so I shared my decision with my father who was extremely happy. In 2002 Nepalhilfe Beilngries, whose kindness I would say provides a pillar of support to the Siddhi Memorial Foundation, approved a financial grant for my medical studies. With full determination to fulfill my dream to become a medical doctor, I took admission for the MBBS program in Yerevan State University in Yerevan, Armenia. In 2009 I successfully completed my MBBS and returned home to serve at Siddhi Memorial Hospital. I can hardly express my happiness the day I joined Siddhi Memorial Hospital as a Medical Officer.
After working for almost two and half years, it came to my realization that clinical knowledge is not sufficient for a hospital’s operation. Through the hospital’s education grant I went to India in 2014 to study Master’s in Hospital Administration (MHA) from Sri Suman Dev University, India. I successfully completed the 2 year MHA program in 2017. Now I feel myself better prepared to devote my energy, dedication, medical & management skills, for the operation and further development of the Siddhi Memorial Foundation.
On Oct 29th 2018 we are celebrating the Silver Jubilee of Siddhi Memorial Foundation and I believe it is indeed a glorious achievement, recollecting all those milestones we have reached so far. From a small clinic at Barahithan now we have become a full-fledged 50 bed Mother & Child Hospital with a family strength of 180 staff. I may fail to define achievement exactly in words, but my personal definition of achievement is where SMF stands today. The journey of 25 years for me, my family and for Siddhi Memorial Foundation has never been an easy path but perseverance, the pure objective towards human service, and the untiring dedication of all the SMF members are factors that have led us to the glorious achievement we have reached today.
On this occasion of the Silver Jubilee, I would like to thank my father and want to tell him how proud I am to be his daughter. I would wholeheartedly like to thank all the family members of the SMF for their dedication, hard work, support & kindness in making all these years of service worth calling a Silver Jubilee celebration.
Siddhi Memorial Foundation is where we celebrate humanity, where happiness means to serve, where kindness dwells in every brick donated by our well-wishers from around the world, where work is worship and where the cycle of life completes.
– Dr. Srita Dhaubhadel