When death comes calling this Khammam man stood bravely welcoming it

Dr Yepuri Harshavardhan of Khammam, serving as a general physician in Australia was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2020 much to the dismay of his family members

Khammam: When death comes calling people usually shudder but this 33-year-old man from Khammam city welcomed it with a quiet composure and thus set an example of equanimity. Dr. Yepuri Harshavardhan of Srinivas Nagar in the city, serving as a general physician in Brisbane of Australia was a man of clean habits and maintained physical fitness. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2020 much to the dismay of his family members.

The news was terribly upsetting for the family as he married a woman Sindhu on Feb 12, 2020. Though he left for Australia in the same month; his wife, who planned to go to Australia in April in the same year, could do so as travel restrictions were imposed due Covid-19 outbreak. The physician who became a fourth stage cancer patient underwent treatment and recovered after struggling for nearly two years. But the disease resurfaced eight months back more fiercely than earlier, leaving the entire family in turmoil.

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Dr. Harshavardhan, who understood that death was standing right in front of him and that his days were numbered, convinced his parents that he was going to be alright and also prepared them mentally for the ultimate outcome of the disease he was suffering from. “He was a brave man. He advised us and his wife, who wanted to stay with him in such critical times, not to come to Australia as he does not want us to watch him suffering” his parents Rama Rao and Prameela told the media.

In the due course, he persuaded family members and divorced his wife as he did not want her to remain a widow at a young age, after his death. And he did everything he could to settle her life. The doctor’s last visit to his parents was in October 2022 and stayed with them for 15 days before leaving for Australia. One of the death dates the doctors in Australia gave him was March 27 in 2023.

Prior to that he hired a lawyer and authorised his local friends in dispatching his dead body to India to avoid legal complications after he passes away. He also bought a coffin box for that purpose, his family members said. On March 23 Dr. Harshavardhan visited a local ashram where he used to offer medical services and bid farewell to the inmates there saying he was going to India. On that fateful day, March 24, on which he died after he spent time with his friends over breakfast.

But before that, he called his friends telling them that he might survive for just another hour and need some rest and slept forever. Dr Harshavardhan’s life and final days narrated by his family members moved all and widely shared on social media.

Dr Yepuri Harshavardhan’s cremation took place on April 5 in Khammam