KATRA: What began as a spiritual journey to the holy shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine turned into a life-threatening medical emergency for a 45-year-old pilgrim from Delhi, who suffered a severe heart attack during his visit to Katra.
Doctors at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital successfully treated the pilgrim through timely emergency cardiac intervention, following which he was discharged in stable condition.
Hospital officials said the pilgrim arrived at the emergency department late at night after developing severe chest pain during his visit to the shrine. Alone and away from his family, the patient was initially anxious and reluctant to undergo treatment as it was his first-ever heart attack.
Doctors remained in constant touch with his family members in Delhi and counselled them regarding the urgency of immediate intervention.
After receiving consent from the family, doctors diagnosed the patient with an acute inferior wall myocardial infarction (MI), a serious heart attack requiring urgent treatment.
In the early hours of the morning, Senior Cardiologist Dr. Mukesh Sharma successfully performed an emergency angioplasty (Primary PCI) to restore blood flow to the heart. Hospital authorities said the procedure remained uneventful and the patient responded well to treatment.
The case was further complicated as the patient had a known allergy to aspirin, a critical medicine in cardiac care. The treating team carried out a supervised aspirin desensitisation protocol, following which the patient was safely started on aspirin therapy without complications.
Following comprehensive cardiac care, the patient recovered well and was discharged in stable condition.
The patient’s parents expressed gratitude to the doctors, nursing staff and hospital administration, and felicitated the medical team with traditional shawls for saving their son’s life far away from home.
The family described the recovery as “Mata Rani’s blessings” and appreciated that pilgrims visiting the holy shrine now have access to advanced cardiac care facilities in Katra because of the vision of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in establishing such a healthcare institution for devotees and residents of the region.
Yashpal Sharma appreciated the coordinated efforts of the emergency, cath lab, nursing and critical care teams and reiterated the hospital’s commitment towards providing accessible and round-the-clock advanced healthcare services to pilgrims and residents of the region.
