Jacko, cancer and a miracle

I dont believe in miracles I believe things can and should be explained in a reasonable preferably logical way with evidence and examples Having a bit of science is good Saying it was magic is not good Evoking divine intervention is definitely not good specially when the existence of the divine itself is unproven Even if one day it rained fish or avocados from the sky I doubt my approach would changeBut its the start of a new year one we all hope will be an improvement on the last one and I think it may be all right just this once to swallow at least one impossible storyThe only word that comes close to explaining what happened to Gerald Anthony Fernandez who would have turned 70 years in March this year is miracle Twentyfour years earlier Dr Tapan Saikia haematologist at the Tata Memorial Centre had declared that the cancer in Jacko as his friends called him had metastatised all over his body No doctor or medicine would help It only remained to wait for the end and hope it would be quick By then he had lost weight drastically his appetite had all but disappeared and he was skeletalAnd yet there he was on April 15 2017 over two decades later the same Jacko looking rogueish in jeans and a casual white shirt with rolled up sleeves in a chair facing me He popped open a beer and took a swig He looked like a buccaneer He looked happy as hell He looked immortal He definitely did not have any cancerLike all sailors Jacko lived big laughed loud travelled wide and loved his tipple No less a bon vivant was his feisty wife Valerie whose job as air hostess with Air India took her globetrotting as much as Jacko Two days before a holiday to Kovalam to celebrate their wedding anniversary Val reminded Jacko about a routine medical checkup hed been postponing for a while Jacko a man who looked good felt better and hated medical tests went to the doctor grumbling under protestA few tests in the doctor looked grim I cant let you go on your holiday he said Somethings very wrong We need more tests and have no time to lose The tests showed that the sailor was well into Stage 4B of nonHodgkins cancer of the lymph glands Over the next five months every possible treatment was tried including experimental drugs Jacko was admitted to the Tata Memorial Centre where he began declining rapidlyOne day Dr Saikia pronounced further treatment of no use Valerie booked a room for Jacko at Bandras Shanti Avedna Sadan Cancer Hospice for those terminally ill with cancer His window had a fine view of the sea but Jacko hated it He wanted to die at home and so Valerie pragmatic but deeply compassionate took him thereBy then Jackos tissues were raw and on fire Even ordinary food singed his tongue Everything had to be bland blended to a fine liquid and cooled before being fed into him through a tube so that nothing touched his tongue His lymphocyte count was 37 nowhere near the 4000 it should have beenValerie passed the word around the community asking wellwishers to pray for him in his final days Small groups would come to offer benedictions and hope She remembers in particular a man and his soninlaw who were at his bedside for a few hours praying for himShe does not know if they had anything to do with what transpired next or whether it was some God Jackos immune system resurgent some experimental drugs hed taken or just a downright miracle but one day the following week Jacko asked to eat fiery Goan sorpotel It was made And he ate itJacko began asking for more impossible food He gained weight regained colour A month later Dr Saikia could not explain what he was seeing Jackos cancer was in spontaneous remission In a few months there was no trace of it in his bloodI asked Jacko if he felt blessed If he had reawakened to how precious life was now that he had been given a second shot Whether he felt Jesus had touched him Ive never been much of a church person he said I still dont go to church Nothing changed for me The cancer came the cancer left I got my life back and I enjoy it as much as I always have And then he popped open another can of beerThe cancer revisited Jacko in August last year He died a month later but even this time it was not the cancer that took him Jacko died peacefully of a heart attackHere viewed from there C Y Gopinath in Bangkok throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai the city that raised him You can reach him at cygopigmailcom Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates