Dr Mathew Samuel Kalarickal, India’s ‘Father Of Angioplasty’, Passes Away At 77 In Chennai
Dr Mathew Samuel Kalarickal, renowned interventional cardiologist and widely acknowledged as the ‘Father of Angioplasty’ in India, passed away in Chennai on April 18 following a brief illness. He was 77.
Dr Kalarickal, who performed India’s first angioplasty in 1986, was instrumental in transforming cardiac care in the country and significantly advancing interventional cardiology across the Asia-Pacific region. He played a key role in setting up cardiac catheterisation laboratories in countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Born in Kerala on January 6, 1948, Dr Kalarickal graduated from Kottayam Medical College and later specialised in cardiology in Chennai. He trained under Dr Andreas Gruentzig, the global pioneer of angioplasty, in the United States, before returning to India in 1985. In a 1997 interview with Frontline (The Hindu Group), Dr Kalarickal said that at the time, India lagged behind the US and Europe by nearly a decade in angioplasty procedures. Moved by a sense of moral obligation to his country, he returned to establish the technique domestically. In 1986, he treated 18 patients—this number surged to 150 by the following year.
“The enormous satisfaction I derive from the achievement of establishing angioplasty in the country is beyond what money can buy,” he had told The Hindu.
Tributes Pour In For Dr Mathew Samuel Kalarickal
Dr Kalarickal continued to serve at leading institutions such as Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, Lilavati Hospital, and Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai. His legacy includes not only path-breaking medical achievements but also the mentoring of several generations of interventional cardiologists.
Dr Ajit Menon, Director of Cardiac Sciences at HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Senior Consultant at Lilavati Hospital, who was mentored by Dr Kalarickal since 1990, said, “He not only taught us the art of interventional cardiology but more importantly, ethics, etiquette, empathy and a sense of service to patients. For him, patients always came first, however compelling other situations might have been. It’s true that there can never be another Dr Samuel Mathew Kalarickal in our lifetime! We will all miss his presence, his smile and his energy in the cath lab.”
Dr Sai Satish, Senior Interventional Cardiologist at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, who trained and worked with Dr Kalarickal for two decades, told The Hindu, “There will never be another Dr Mathew Samuel Kalarickal in my life. He shaped me in ways few ever could, and I will miss him dearly every time I step into a cath lab.”
Dr Kalarickal served as President of the Asian-Pacific Society of Interventional Cardiology from 1995 to 1997. His numerous accolades include the Padma Shri (2000), the Dr B.C. Roy Award (1996), and a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) conferred by the Tamil Nadu Dr M.G.R. Medical University in 2003.
He is survived by his wife, Bina, and children Anna and Sam, along with grandchildren Merin, Tajar, Mathew, George, Benjamin, Neil, and Susan.
A memorial service will be held at the Chetpet Mar Thoma Syrian Christian Church in Chennai on April 19. The funeral will take place at St Peter’s Mar Thoma Church, Kottayam, Kerala, on April 21 at 3:00 PM.
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