Sharad Kumar Dixit | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1930-12-13)13 December 1930 Pandharpur,Maharashtra, India |
| Died | 14 November 2011(2011-11-14) (aged 80) Brooklyn |
| Occupation | Plastic surgeon |
| Known for | Social service |
| Spouse | divorced |
| Children | 3 children |
| Awards | Padma Shri ASAPS Humanitarian Award Vanguard Award The Week Man of the Year Indian Merchants' Chamber Award IMIC CHEMTECH Lifetime Achievement Award Nathan Davis International Award UNESCO-Hamdan Award Raul Wallenberg Prize Conrad Hilton Foundation Award Kellogg’s Hamnah World of Children Award Bhagini Sanskar Parishad Award NRI World-Merrill Lynch NRI of the Year Award Diwaliben Mehta Award World Congress of Cosmetic Surgery Lifetime Achievement Award |
Sharad Kumar Dixit was an Indian bornAmerican plastic surgeon[1] and the founder of The India Project,[2] a social initiative for free treatment of plastic surgery for the financially compromised people.[3][4][5] A multiple nominee forNobel Peace Prize,[6] he was honored by theGovernment of India, in 2001, with the fourth highestIndian civilian award ofPadma Shri.[7]
Sharad Kumar Dixit was born inPandharpur,Solapur district, in the Western Indian state ofMaharashtra on 13 December 1930,[3][8] as one among the six children of a post master.[9] His initial choice was to study science for which he enrolled atNizam College, Hyderabad,[10] but discontinued the course to pursue studies in medicine atNagpur after which he served in Indian Army for a short while. In 1959, Dixit moved to US and had higher training inOphthalmology. However, a further change of mind saw him studyingplastic surgery to secure a master's degree (MD)[2] and worked at Fairbanks Hospital, Alaska,Mount Sinai Hospital[8] and theNew York Methodist Hospital.[9]
Dixit, whom Lester Silver, the plastic surgeon at the Mount Sinai Medical Center termed asan ethical and moral giant,[9] founded The India Project in 1968[2] for providing plastic surgery treatment for the poor sections of the Indian society.[3] Working half the year in the US and spending the rest of the year in India conducting free medical camps where he performed thousands of cosmetic corrective surgeries forcleft lip,ptosis andsquint.[3] Later, he formed a trust and arranged for the continuity of his programs by bequeathing his assets[11] to the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation[12] of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.[3]
While his tenure at the Fairbanks Hospital, Dixit met with a car accident in 1978[5][8] which rendered him paralysed and confined to a wheel chair.[1][3][4][9] He also contracted cancer of the larynx[9][10] which forced him to use a voice box,[8] and also suffered two heart attacks.[3][4] However, despite the disabilities, he did not stop his social service which he continued till his death. Dixit, under the project banner, carried on his free medical service for 42 years since 1968[4] collaborating withBharatiya Jain Sangathan[4] and is credited with over 65,000 surgeries personally performed,[3] with a total of 266,000 surgeries under the project.[4][8][13] He was also known to be quick in his surgeries, with reports crediting him with less than 30 minutes for a cleft lip surgery and lesser for squint, ptosis and dab surgeries.[8][9] It is reported that he performed 100 to 150 surgeries in a day[4] and the project, in 2003-04, is reported to have carried out 18,155 surgeries.[2]
Since I am treated as entirely disabled in the United States, this is my way of coming back to my country and contributing to life around me. I do cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, correctional surgery that helps the poor, who would not be able to otherwise afford it. I see this as my job. This is all…, said Sharadkumar Dicksheet.[3]
Sharad Kumar Dixit married twice but divorced and had two daughters and a son.[8][9] He died on 14 November 2011 at Brooklyn, USA.[2][5][8][13] His life and times have been captured in a documentary film,Flying on One Engine,[13] a 55 minute biopic directed byJoshua Z Weinstein, which narrates Dixit's life in a dilapidatedOcean Parkway apartment in Brooklyn and outside of it.[6]
Sharad Kumar Dixit, a Maliniac Fellow of the Plastic Surgery Foundation,[5] was nominated for theNobel Peace Prize[3][8] eight times, of which five nominations came in successive years.[5][10] He received theHumanitariaon Award of the American Society of Aesthetical Surgery in 1997 and the Vanguard Award in 1998. The next year, he was selected as theMan of the Year byThe Week. The year 2000 saw him receiving theIndian Merchants' Chamber Award and a year later, he received the Chemtech Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Medical Integration Council. The same year, theGovernment of India honoured him with the civilian award ofPadma Shri.[3][5][8] He was awarded Hamdan Award for Volunteers in Humanitarian Medical Services in 2002 by Hamdan Medical Award.[14] TheAmerican Medical Association conferred on him the Nathan Davis International Award in 2008.
A Nominee for the 2001Gandhi Peace Prize,[3] he is also a recipient of UNESCOHamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award,[3][10] and a nominee for the Conrad Hilton Humanitarian Award.[3][10] He receivedUS$ 100,000 as cash[9] for the 2001Kellogg’s Hannah Neil World of Children Award[3][5][10] which was reportedly utilized for his humanitarian efforts in India.[2] He also received Bhagini Sanskar Parishad Award, 2001 NRI World-Merrill Lynch NRI of the Year Award,[15] Diwaliben Mehta Award,[3] and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the World Congress of Cosmetic Surgery.[3][5]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
