For actor Vivek Oberoi, it was heart-warming moment when slain CRPF jawan and Pulwama terror attack victim Ratan Thakur’s 19-day-old son wrapped his tiny hand around his finger at the ICU of Rani Children Hospital here.
The baby born prematurely to Ratan’s widow Rajnandini on in Bhagalpur has been undergoing treatment for respiratory problems from April 8.
When Oberoi dropped in at the hospital around 6pm on Friday, the baby’s mother and grandfather Ram Neeranjan Thakur were present at the spot.
Oberoi handed over a cheque of Rs 2 lakh to them.
“When I touched the baby’s hand, he responded by grabbing my finger. It was a pleasant experience. I found him hale and hearty. The doctors said he would be released from the hospital within four to five days,” Oberoi told the media after coming out of the ICU on the first floor of the hospital.
Explaining why he flew to Ranchi to meet the boy, Oberoi said he felt a responsibility towards the baby whose father had sacrificed his life while serving the country.
“He is the son of our family. He is son of India. It is our responsibility to take his care of him and I think every India felt the same,” he said.
Oberoi parried reply to all queries related to PM Narendra Modi, the biopic on the Prime Minister, in which he plays the lead.
“No questions except the welfare of the martyr’s son,” Oberoi said when prodded about the release of the film.
Ram Niranjan looked happy about the fact that a celebrity was visiting his grandson.
“I my proud of my son who is no more, but there are many to look after us. It is his supreme sacrifice for the country that has led a celebrity like Oberoi to pay a visit to my ailing grandson at the hospital. If I live for another 20 years, I promise the country will get another soldier in the form of Ram Ratan Thakur (the baby boy),” Thakur, who also has a three-and-a half-year old grandson Krishna, said.
Twenty nine-year old Ratan, a native of Bhagalpur, was among the 37 CRPF personnel who lost their lives in a terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pulwana on February 14.
Rajnandani delivered a premature male baby on April 6 at a private hospital in Bhagalpur. The baby did not cry at birth and was brought to Rani Children Hospital on April 8 in a critical condition.
A senior hospital administrator said the baby developed acute respiratory problem. The baby did not cry after birth so it caused insufficient blood supply to brain, which prompted the doctors to put him on life support.
The entire cost of his treatment is being borne by the CRPF and the hospital.
One of the senior doctors treating the baby had earlier said the hospital had received a call from the office of Yashodhara Oberoi Foundation, Juhu, Mumbai, a charitable organisation run by Vivek Oberoi.