I remember the day very clearly. It was 19th January 2009. I was in the middle of a surgery when I received a phone call inside the operation theatre from the Prime Minister’s office. I called back as soon as I finished the procedure. On the other end of the line was Dr. Srinath Reddy, the PM’s chief cardiologist. He told me, “The PM is going for an angiogram tomorrow morning at AIIMS. We want you there”. Needless to say I left the same evening, cancelling my other appointments. 

I was told that a panel of four doctors including the health minister Anbumani Ramadoss had long deliberations on whom to shortlist for the PM’s probable surgery. One was Dr. Bruce Lytle and the second one was I. Dr. Bruce Lytle was one of my mentors at Cleveland clinic and a known name in redo bypass. 

The next morning, Dr. Srinath Reddy, the senior doctors at AIIMS and I reviewed the PM’s angiogram. There were critical blockages in all his three arteries. Also, the bypass grafts that were put in place earlier, had failed. Even his earlier angioplasties were blocked. As we deliberated the course of action, most senior doctors suggested bypass surgery. However, a handful were in favour of angioplasty. We decided that we had to put forth the pros and cons of both to Dr. Singh. The quiet and unassuming Prime Minister heard us out attentively. He had two concerns on his mind. 

Would he be able to be part of the Republic Day celebrations?

Would he be able to campaign in the general elections in May 2009?

We told him that if he chose angioplasty, he would be discharged within 3 days and he could participate in the elections- but his travel would be limited to those areas where emergency medical services were top notch. However, if he opted for a cardiac surgery his overall recovery would be 2 to 4 weeks long. But after that, he could go back to work and travel across the length and breadth of the country, unhindered for the elections.

Dr. Singh considered our suggestions for a moment and said, “On the balance of probability, I believe that cardiac surgery will be better for me than an angioplasty.” I realised that Doctor Manmohan Singh was a numbers man at heart. Even at such a critical juncture, he kept a calm mind and took decisions based on logic alone.

The other decision he made was also in favour of his country. He said that he would not travel abroad for his surgery and he would bet on an Indian surgeon instead. I got to know later that my mentor Bruce Lytle had assured Dr. Srinath Reddy about my abilities! Further, Dr. Srinath Reddy was aware that I had just done a 3rd time redo bypass on Supreme Court Justice Chinappa Reddy. And so it happened that on 24th January 2009, my team and I operated on Dr. Manmohan Singh, performing a five bypass graft procedure on a very courageous leader. In the OT, we played the Maha Mrutyunjay Jaap, as per Madam Gursharan Kaur’s request. In hindsight, the divine blessings came in handy.

(The author is a Padma Bhushan awardee and the Chairman of Asian Heart Institute Mumbai)