Meet 66-year-old Devasyakutty, the man with a golden heart

ALAPPUZHA: Alappuzha Poonkavu native Devasyakutty has been visiting the wards of Alappuzha Medical college for 30 years to provide help to patients who don't have anyone to look after them. He provides them medicines and food on time and helps them to return back to normal life. Devasyakutty continues to do it even at the age of 66. He started doing this when he got admitted to the hospital due to chest pain. He saw an elderly woman struggling to take care of an old man in his adjacent bed. He helped them. Although he left the hospital, he couldn’t forget the sad faces. So, he started helping the patients.

Devasya doesn’t hesitate to clean patients who can’t take care of their basic needs alone. He also provides them food, bathes them, brushes their teeth, cuts their hair, and shaves their beard. He makes the patients ready before doctors arrive for rounds. He provides them food with the money he gets from coir sale in his house. The doctors and some people helped him when they came to know about his humanitarian deed.

Before the pandemic, he delivered food to the patients from his home but now he makes sure the food provided by various organizations reaches the patients. His wife Mariyamma supports him. Children: Shaji, Shaija.

He also provides shelter to patients at his home. Tenkasi native Murukesan who is deaf and dumb and had nowhere to go stayed at his home for four-and-a-half years. He arranged a special room for such patients.

Devasya reaches hospital at 8 am. The doctors or nurses inform Devasya about patients who don’t have bystanders. Now there are four such patients in the medicine ward. He takes care of their needs and returns home by 3 pm.