Teesside doctor helping to launch world's first tribal bereavement centre
Christy Vijay says he's seen how tough it's been for families losing babies
A Teesside doctor who was stranded in a remote tribal village in India four years ago is now returning to help open a bereavement centre in the same place - believed to be the first tribal bereavement centre in the world.
In 2022, while on his way to meet a friend in Southern India, Christy Vijay’s bus broke down in the middle of nowhere. With no transport in sight, Christy's friends travelled from afar and took him to Sittilingi, a tiny, remote tribal village.
Christy, who works as a gynaecologist in The James Cook University Hospital, said: “During my stay in the village of Sittilingi, I was diagnosed with dengue, a viral infection that causes severe flu-like illnesses.”
Residents from remote places such as Sittilingi often face long travel times for healthcare due to a lack of local medical facilities.
However, Christy’s worsening condition was treated in Tribal Health Initiative (THI), a non-profit run hospital that aims to provide quality healthcare to the tribal population in Sittilingi.
Thanks to the medical teams, the Teesside doctor was treated with dignity and recovered his health.
During the few days spent in the village, Christy says he experienced first-hand how an overstretched hospital was on its knees trying to provide care to the population.
This encouraged him to work as a gynaecologist at the Tribal Health Initiative while continuing his practice in The James Cook University Hospital.
Travelling once every three months, Christy takes time off from James Cook to work in the tribal village – sharing his Middlesbrough-based expertise with remote communities
Every trip also includes around 100kg of donated clothing and medical essentials, and special permission from British Airways to transport them.
During every visit, Christy was heartbroken to witness families facing miscarriage and infant loss.
He said: “In the forest, if a mother faces a complication and there is no specialist, she often has no choice but to go home and face the worst outcome.”
The 34-year-old voiced his concern with James Cook’s maternity team about the much-needed bereavement support to be offered to women who have lost their babies.
His aim was that no one should be sent home without a bereavement mental health care plan.
He was deeply moved by the compassionate bereavement care provided in the Tees Valley, where families are given a peaceful space to say goodbye and honour their baby’s life.
The tales shared by Christy encouraged the maternity team members to leverage their experience to help establish a pioneering bereavement centre in Sittilingi, which is set to open next month and is touted as one of the first of its kind in the world.
Christy added: “At James Cook, we believe that every parent deserves the right to acknowledge their baby’s existence in a safe, dignified space. Bringing that standard of care to a community that has felt invisible to the rest of the world is a dream come true for all of us.”
To ensure the facility successfully opens in May, Dr Helen Simpson, consultant obstetrician, and the hospital’s bereavement team, worked towards establishing a formal training curriculum – where James Cook’s medical teams would train locals.
As part of this, three tribal students were chosen as the first cohort to undergo training.
These newly-trained specialists will be providing expert bereavement care to parents and families grieving the loss of their newborns in the bereavement centre – with the trio set to graduate weeks before the opening of the bereavement centre.
Additionally, 4Louis, a neonatal loss charity, has donated memory-making kits and a cuddle cot, which is a specialised cooling unit to allow families to spend extended time with a baby who has passed away while following the local cultural customs.
Dr Helen Simpson, who would be travelling to Sittilingi with Christy later this month, to inaugurate the bereavement centre, said: “Having worked in the NHS for 35 years, I am very much used to being able to deliver a quality service to our women.
“Hearing from Christy over the years about the lack of bereavement care the women in the village receive, including not being able to acknowledge the loss of a child, see, or name that child – was heartbreaking.
“Seeing his drive encouraged me to go out to India with him to and help set up the bereavement centre.”
Christy added: “I would like to thank everyone for their support in making this happen.”
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