Paediatric cardiology-Hall of Fame : Arkalgud Sampath Kumar.

Abstract

The oldest civilisation on the face of the Earth can be traced to India, home to the largest democracy of our times. Fast forward five millenia, a young nation at 78 places the aortic cross clamp most of others on a per diem basis. Somewhere in between, Donald Nixon Ross, who has been interred in this great Hall of Fame [1] opined that "it is rare to know of surgeons who can perform an operation better and often, seamless than its namesake, and among the few there are, Sampath Kumar is one". It gives us great pleasure to introduce at the time of his induction in the Paediatric Cardiology Hall of Fame, one of finest humans our profession is privileged to have - Professor Arkalgud Sampath Kumar. Kumar has earned the peerage accorded to few surgeons in our milieu for his lifelong commitment to patientcare, teaching, research and innovation - making him the definition of a quadruple threat in academic surgery. Coming from Professor Anderson, we deem it an honor to present this character-sketch of this gentleman surgeon and mentor, who has the rare distinction of expanding the horizons of paediatric cardiovascular surgical care in the public, private and philanthropic institutions, among others through this encomium.