Faith can move a mountain & strong willpower can help you surmount any height - living example of this adage 69yr old Dr Rajput and his wife

Mumbai-based 69-year-old couple, Dr Ranjit Rajput and Mrs. Samaj Rajput have recently completed a 40Km long Rudranath trek after recovering from a Uni-Compartmental Knee Replacement (UKR) Surgery. The couple have been avid hikers and have previously completed Kedarnath, Rudranath, Roopkund, Thungnath, and other trekking routes in the Himalayas across the past two decades. In their recent trek, Dr Rajput successfully hiked a very dangerous range between Sarang village to the peak of about 4000 meters above sea level to fulfill their passion, alongside his wife and three other members.

Dr Rajput gives credit to Dr Kaushal Malhan, Director-Orthopedic and Joint Replacement, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, whom he feels has enabled him to continue his passion of scaling new heights. Dr Rajput narrates, “Before my first surgery in 2018, I suffered from severe pain in my knee. I had always been on long treks since the year 2000 and was very active but my pain was weighing me down. My constant knee pain got worse & even walking was difficult. An X-ray of the knee showed that I had severe Knee Osteoarthritis and had completely lost the cartilage cushion on one side of my knee due to wear & tear. During a trek before the surgery, the cold weather and rough mountain route worsened my knee condition, freezing my knees, making it impossible to make any movement. Due to my pain and discomfort, we were not able to complete the trek and had to return halfway. This broke my heart. Being a doctor myself, I tried all sorts of medication and treatment including physiotherapy, without any success. My pain made my day-to-day activities difficult and excruciatingly painful”.

He adds, “Dr Kaushal Malhan from Fortis Hospital Mulund assured me that a knee replacement would give me another opportunity to live a normal life and help me pursue my passion. After undergoing Uni-Compartmental Knee Replacement (UKR) Surgery under him, my life changed”.

The husband and wife, both suffering from Knee Osteoarthritis underwent surgery under Dr Kaushal Malhan on the same day, showed excellent recovery and were discharged three days after the operation.

Within one month of the surgery, the couple participated in a marathon arranged by a local school in Thane; winning the marathon was not a goal but regaining the confidence was. The marathon finish line gave them hope to start trekking again; they started with a small trek initially in the Sahyadri mountain ranges. Slowly and steadily climbing each mountain and making their knee joints stronger to climb more peaks, they decided to go on the Rudranath trek this year. This 40Km-long trek stating from Sarang village is one of the most difficult treks in India. But the couple completed this trek, and also added more peaks to their trekking journey.

“We see many patients coming to us with knee and joint pains but a lot of them are not ready to undergo surgery due to fear of complications and problem s in the future. However with specialised minimally invasive joint replacement techniques, one can get back to their normal routine and live a pain-free life” says, Dr Kaushal Malhan, Director-Orthopedics and Joint Replacement at Fortis hospital, Mulund.

This shows that if you set your heart on something, you will move mountains to achieve it. This inspiring couple makes us believe that no mountain is bigger than our resolutions.