Thiruvananthapuram: Michael Savarimuthu’s birth was hailed as a miracle nearly a century ago. The 99-year-old former soldier died on Thursday, a year short of the first recorded caesarian delivery in Kerala that saved his life and his mother's.

The doctors had told Savarimuthu’s parents that they could save either the mother or the baby. Michael and Mary were crestfallen. The couple from Kundamankadavu had already lost three children at birth.

Fortunately, they had a guardian angel in the form of Dr Mary Poonen Lukose, who had trained in surgery from London. She told them about a new surgical procedure which increased the chances of saving the mother and the child.

Dr Lukose, the first woman surgeon in Kerala, led a team of doctors at the Thycaud Government Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram to attempt the first C-section recorded in a state hospital in 1920. The child lived on for nearly 100 years.

Savarimuthu served in the Army before joining the government press in Thiruvananthapuram and stayed in the Palayam area. He is survived by wife K Rosamma, son S Alexander and daughters S Leela and S Philomina.

His brother, three years his junior, was also born through C-section.

Another early C-section baby, T K Seethalakshmi Ammal from Thycaud, died last year.

Celebrity tumour

If the credit for the first C-section in the state goes to Dr Lukose, the first surgical intervention in the womb was performed by Dr Raman Thambi.

Dr Thambi was practising in the Cherthala Government Hospital when a 'pregnant' woman sought his consultation. He understood that the woman was carrying either a stillborn or a tumour in her womb, said historian Dr Rajasekharan Nair.

Dr Thambi went for a surgery to save the woman. His diagnosis proved to be correct. It was a tumour.

News of the strange treatment spread fast. When curious people thronged the hospital, the doctor exhibited the tumour in front of the building.

The king was furious. He sent an English doctor to Cherthala to investigate the incident. The doctor returned with a report that praised Dr Thambi. The king later promoted him to a post in Kollam, Dr Nair added.

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