Latest news with #MadrasENTResearchFoundation
New Indian Express
5 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
Resounding success: TN kids who got cochlear implant grow up to crack UPSC, NEET
CHENNAI: You heard it right! Odds were aplenty, but they made it big. Yash Kumar and K Akshaya, who were both born with hearing impairment, are continuing to script success stories. It was sheer will power that helped Yash crack the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS) exam, securing a national rank of 990. Probably the first person born with hearing impairment to clear the exam, he was a total stranger to the music of nature until 3.5 years when he underwent cochlear implant surgery at the Madras ENT Research Foundation in 2002. Ask Yash, the 26-year-old would say the high-paying job at Microsoft didn't impress him much, and the UPSC dream peped into his mind after seeing his father Rajesh Kumar, an employee of Small Industries Development Bank of India, work for PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme, launched by the union government in 2020 during Covid-19 to provide affordable loans to street vendors to start business. 'When working for Microsoft I decided to do something for the under-represented and people with disabilities, and I started preparing for the UPSC and got selected for IAS,' says Yash. For Yash, Dr Mohan Kameshwaran, managing director and chief surgeon at the Madras ENT Research Foundation who performed the cochlear implant surgery on him, is like a parent figure. 'Today I can speak like any other person. If I could do half the work of what Dr Kameshwaran did, I would be happy,' says Yash. Akshaya, also born with hearing impairment, who bagged an MBBS seat at Government Madurai Medical College under persons with disability quota this year, is also a patient of Dr Mohan. 'I want to become an ENT specialist,' says Akshaya with a smile. Speaking to TNIE, Dr Mohan said though The Madras ENT Research Foundation started carrying out cochlear implant surgery in 1997, the patients had to spend around Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh from their pockets. 'It was in 2010 that the cochlear implant surgery was brought under 'Kalaignar Kaappitu Thittam',' he says. He also thanked late CM M Karunanidhi for bringing the implants under the scheme. 'If hearing loss is detected early and treated, the patients can develop speech quickly,' he added.
The Hindu
13-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Governor felicitates eminent doctors at Raj Bhavan
Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi felicitated eminent medical personalities during an event in the Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Sunday to commemorate the Doctor's Day. On the occasion, V. Mohan, Diabetologist, Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre, Chennai, delivered a special address on 'The Silent Epidemic of Our Times', V. Chockalingam, Chief Cardiologist, former Director, Institute of Cardiology, Madras Medical College on 'Preventing Heart Attacks-What Everyone Needs to Know', Mohan Kameswaran, Managing Director and Senior Consultant, Madras ENT Research Foundation on 'Lessons for doctors from Valluvar and understanding the silent epidemic of sleep apnea'. Palaniappan Manickam, Gastroenterologist, spoke on 'Health Awareness in the Digital Age-The Power of Social Media' to create more awareness on 'importance of healthy life for happiness' in the society.
