A hero in need . . . article on Rakesh

Recently, Rakesh Bapat aka Neil in Saat Phere played a Good Samaritan in real life by saving the life of a two-year-old kid from Assam who was suffering from a heart complication.

We heard about this from his neighbour and contacted Rakesh for more information. Rakesh said, "I met this boy's father at a nearby grocery store. He was there to buy some stuff as well. He looked really unhappy and I couldn't help asking him what had happened. He was on the verge of crying and told me that he works as a laborer and his son has a hole in his heart. I felt really bad on hearing this and asked him to bring me the child's medical reports just to check out whether the man was telling the truth. But when the man showed me the reports, I decided to take the little boy to the Madras Medical Mission in Chennai for surgery."

Not only did Rakesh take the kid to Chennai, he also paid the hospital bills which amounted to around Rs 5 lakh. Said Rakesh, "It was nothing, really. I am happy that the child is safe and sound after the surgery."