An unforgettable physician of rare quality

On September 16, last year, my dear friend Sarath passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. He was a vegetarian, teetotaller and did not smoke. He was certainly not overweight and had no family history of heart disease. The shocking news of his passing following a heart attack was yet another reality check on the unreliability of life.

He and I were friends over a long journey, which began in 1959 when we entered S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia together.

His father, Amara, a senior geologist and mother Pauline were well known to my family. They lived in Boralesgamuwa, while we were in Nedimala, Dehiwala. Sarath’s father had firm views on character building, and so despite being within easy motoring distance to school decided to board his son at the tender age of seven.

Life in the S. Thomas’s boarding was no cakewalk. Corporal punishment with the cane was common in those days and the prevalent philosophy was NOT to ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’. S. Thomas’ also had the ingrained philosophy of ‘mens sana in corpore sano’ – a healthy mind in a healthy body. This was one of the day scholar house mottos, but it was mostly the boarding houses that really aspired to this end though it was only a select handful who achieved this lofty ideal.

Sarath Abeyakoon was one of those. He participated in almost every sport representing his House and got into the first XI hockey team, playing with distinction for S. Thomas’. He also represented the school in basketball, athletics and was the Fives captain.

He excelled academically winning many prizes, became a College Prefect, Head Prefect of his boarding house and eventually the Head Prefect of S. Thomas’– a huge honour, and most deservedly won the Victoria Jubilee Gold Medal for the Best All Round Student in his final year at school.

He and I entered Colombo Medical College, University of Ceylon together in 1972 and were batchmates until we qualified as doctors in 1976. Sarath excelled at Medical College too, participating in all the social activities as well. The Block Nite Organising Committee (for the medical students’ concert and dinner dance), Buddhist Brotherhood, hockey for the Colombo University and finally getting into university politics as the President of the Medical Students’ Union, an important body in the hotbed of diverse political views at the time in the university.

A colleague remembered how when the university was heading for a strike which would disrupt final year exams for many faculties, Sarath represented the Medical Faculty at this crucial meeting and what he said in his calm and reasoning manner won the day. Sanity prevailed, averting the strike. It was classic Sarath Abeyakoon, winning trust with his inimitable, logical, calm and reassuring demeanour.

Sarath qualified as a doctor in 1976 and in due course decided on a career in oncology. He trained in Sri Lanka’s premier cancer institute at Maharagama, went to Japan for his higher training and returned to Sri Lanka to work as a cancer specialist within the public health system. What he achieved in those years at Maharagama and later in private, is now the stuff of legend, becoming perhaps more known only after his sad demise. He devoted his life to the development of cancer treatment and eventually became the President of the College of Oncologists in Sri Lanka. Sarath Abeyakoon was born to lead. He became the President of the Medical Students’ Union, Colombo University and the President of the College of Oncologists in Sri Lanka. He had a stellar resume. These achievements are by any standards extraordinary, but what makes it more so is that they were not achieved by someone with a dominant, assertive personality but in fact by someone who was the very antithesis of what one might expect.

Of diminutive stature, gentle, unassuming and humble to a fault and always the perfect gentleman, Sarath was charming and likeable and equally comfortable in any society, exemplifying Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If’ – the ability to walk with kings nor lose the common touch”.

He was a wonderful, sincere human being and it was by winning trust he was thrust into these positions of power, rather than by his own intention to seek these high positions. I was very close to him when the much sought after post of the President of the Medical Students’ Union was suggested to him. When it was known that he would accept this, all other possible contenders melted away.

Sarath Abeyakoon was a shining example for the medical profession, patients and society at large. He exemplified the goodness of a committed, compassionate physician who encompassed the real meaning and tenets of the Hippocratic Oath, the guiding light through the ages for the noble profession. He and outstanding doctors like him set the moral compass for those in training to follow and emulate.

Therefore, that such a gem is lost to probably the most vulnerable group of patients in society - cancer sufferers is a most tragic and irreplaceable loss. He exemplified especially to this group some of the most basic aspirations in medicine, as stated by my friend and colleague Professor Laal Jayakody soon after Sarath’s death was published in the Press

To cure occasionally

Relieve often

Comfort always

The stories about his dedication to duty and compassion are legion. He took time to answer questions, explain and whenever he could, reassure with his charming manner and disarming smile, which must have been almost as potent as any chemotherapy or radiotherapy. I have heard how he took patients upto their cars, pushing the wheelchair himself. He had very little time for himself and his own health, and not infrequently on his way home to Boralesgamuwa after a long and gruelling day, would drop in unannounced to check on how patients were getting on. It became known after his passing that he had donated money to establish cancer treatment services in Anuradhapura.

I have had the rare privilege of having had a ringside seat to such an inspiring and exemplary life. He was a dear friend and the groomsman at my wedding to my wife, Priyani. I have been in close contact with him since I left Sri Lanka in 1980 and Sarath has been instrumental, along with a few others, in maintaining links with our batchmates in medical college and was a popular choice for ‘Treasurer’ for such reunions. On the last such occasion, when it seemed we couldn’t cover our costs, Sarath actually turned up a large profit, which we donated to charity.

All those who knew him closely will grieve alongside with Luckshmi and daughter Chathuri, currently training in Melbourne to be a physician. She already shows great promise and has the precious genes and rare attributes of her great father.

He led an exemplary Buddhist life, devoting the richness of his life to help others less fortunate. His life showcased, in a troubled world, the very best of his school, the medical profession and his country.

Simply stated, he was one of Sri Lanka’s rarest gems.

May his journey through Samsara be short.

Nothing beautiful in this world

Is ever really lost

All things beloved

Live in our hearts

Forever.