1. Mary Puthisseril Verghese was an Indian physician who was among the earliest pioneers of physical medicine and rehabilitation in India.
17 Facts About Mary Verghese
1. 2.
Mary Verghese was instrumental in expanding the services of the department with the establishment of the first inpatient rehabilitation institute of the country in 1966.
3.
Mary Verghese was born in Cherai village, Cochin, Kerala, India, to a prosperous family.
4.
Mary Verghese's father was a leader in the local church and community.
5.
Mary Verghese was the seventh of eight children in the family.
6.
The fifth woman dropped and Mary Verghese was able to enter the college.
7.
Mary Verghese met Dr Ida S Scudder, the founder of the institution, for the first time at the time of her admission to the course.
8.
Mary Verghese had her graduate training in medicine at the Christian Medical College, Vellore between 1946 and 1952.
9.
Mary Verghese aimed to gain a deeper relationship with God while in school and was devoted to laying down a foundation of faith and medicine through her work in many clinics.
10.
Mary Verghese became paralysed from the waist down.
11.
Mary Verghese's injuries were managed by Dr Paul Brand, who subsequently was her mentor and under whom she learnt surgical skills related to leprosy rehabilitation.
12.
Mary Verghese started the rehabilitation institute in 1966, and headed the first fully functional physical rehabilitation unit in the country.
13.
Mary Verghese was involved in providing rehabilitation services primarily for persons with spinal cord injury, leprosy, and brain injury.
14.
Mary Verghese continued to work at the Christian Medical College until 1976.
15.
Mary Verghese's biography, titled "Take my hand: the remarkable story of Dr Mary Verghese", authored by Dorothy Clarke Wilson, was published in 1963.
16.
Dr Mary Verghese is constantly remembered as the pioneer she was - starting a service that is still going more than 50 years later.
17.
Dr Mary Verghese contributed to The Rehabilitation Institute in Bagayam by starting a fund in order to raise money for the people that could not afford these services and disability treatments.