Pune's Ruby Hall Clinic founder, Dr Keki Grant, passes away

Dr Keki Byramjee Grant, one of India’s most renowned cardiologists and the oldest practicing physician in the country, passed away in Pune on Monday evening. He was 90 years old.

The founder of city-based Ruby Hall Clinic succumbed to a respiratory illness he was suffering for the past several months.
Grant, who was admitted to the intensive care unit of Ruby Hall, was on a ventilator support. He was shifted to the hospital on Sunday evening after he complained of breathlessness and uneasiness.

Grant, who passed away at 6.57pm, was surrounded by his near and dear ones, including his son, Dr Pervez Grant.

Chief executive officer of the clinic, Bomi Bhote, told DNA that Grant had a similar attack of breathlessness in November 2010.
Senior cardiologist and trustee of Ruby Hall, Dr RB Gulati, who was associated with the senior Grant for nearly 50 years, told DNA, “With his demise, I feel the same when my father passed away. He was like a guide and father to me. Whatever I am today is because of him. His death has left a deep void in my life.”

Recollecting his recent interaction with Grant, Gulati said, “He told me, ‘keep the Ruby Hall flag flying even after I am gone’. About three months ago, he seemed to guess that his time was up.”
Dr SG Deshpande, head of department of surgery at Ruby Hall, who worked with Grant for 35 years, recounted the airline hijack drama in which Grant sustained injuries. “Few people know that Dr Grant and his wife Tehmi were on the plane that was hijacked to Karachi in 1986. Dr Grant suffered a bullet wound in his knee when the terrorists started firing indiscriminately.”

According to Bhote, Grant would be buried at a Koregaon Park cemetery at 8am on Tuesday.