TRIBUTE TO AN ICONIC FIGURE IN THE MEDICAL FRATERNITY
ON CHRISTMAS Day, in the presence of a handful of close family and a friend or two, we bade a final farewell to one of the most iconic figures in the medical profession, Mr CN Pillay, a friend and relative by marriage, whom I have known for virtually a lifetime.
While those who would have had the good fortune to have known or heard of him, more so those most fortunate to have crossed his path, been treated by him or witnessed his skill as a surgeon, few will know his life’s story, so skilfully captured both by respected journalist Yogin Devan and Mr Pillay’s erstwhile colleague, Professor B Singh, head of surgery at the KwaZulu-Natal Medical School.
I have often wondered over the years why it was the correct thing to do to address him as “Mr” as opposed to “Dr” CN Pillay. It’s a long story, but for present purposes one can accept that its history goes back to some 200 years of British medical history and the use of “Mr” as a prefix eventually evolved as a “badge of honour” to set surgeons apart as a species from the physician.
As someone who knew him intimately over many decades, I must confess that his simplicity, his passion for his profession, his love of humanity and his almost unparalleled community involvement set him apart as someone deserving of greater recognition than he has thus far received.
In the more than six decades I have had the privilege of knowing him, he has lived in Greenwood Park in a simple, unpretentious, yet comfortable home. He has gone through, as best I remember, four cars over six decades, never a fancy one. He had a VW Beetle which he virtually ran into the ground on the long trips to the RK Khan and later the Chatsworth Hospice.
Even in his advanced years he would drive to the hospice until the management thought it was unfair and risky, and provided him with their own transport, an indication of his valued support and wise counsel in running the hospice, his pet project.
I can do no better than to refer to the tributes by both his colleague and mentor Professor B Singh and Yogin Devan for my motivation to the board of management of the Chatsworth Hospice to consider re-naming the hospice in his honour as the “CN Pillay Hospice”, or by any other designation such as to incorporate his name.
I would go even further and suggest the Powers That Be give serious thought to honouring him posthumously with a national award.
Yogin Devan had the following to say on social media bearing the title: “We Bemoan a Brilliant Surgeon”:
“Dr Coomarasamy Nithinathan (“CN”) Pillay, 90, one of the most brilliant surgeons of his time and the man who planted the seed for the Chatsworth Regional Hospice, passed away from age-related illness last night.
“His paternal grandfather, Kumarasamy Kistan (KK), came from a wealthy family of tobacco farmers in India… and bought14 acres of land, on which the family established Greenwood Park.
“CN Pillay wrote exams (to enter high school) and was accepted at Sastri College. In Standard 7 he received a book prize, The Healing Knife, by George Sava – his introduction to surgery. It was to mould his life.
“He studied medicine at Wits University under a special permit. He furthered his studies at the Royal College of Surgeons in London and the Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons, qualifying as a surgeon.
He had 30 years of unbroken service at RK Khan Hospital, retiring as principal surgeon.
“The standard set by the surgical department at the RK Khan Hospital under his watch was to become the benchmark for other surgical departments and units to emulate. Close to Pillay’s heart was the Chatsworth Regional Hospice, his brainchild.”
Professor B Singh said in his eulogy: “Mr Coomarasamy Nithianathan Pillay’s lifelong contribution to the development of public sector surgical services in Durban and his long-standing and diverse commitments to the wider community positions him as a legend in our fraternity; he was the epitome of selflessness.”
Need I say more!