APPNA Mourns Tragic Loss of Pakistani Doctors

It is with a heavy heart that we must send this eblast out today. Last night, three Pakistani-Physicians traveling from Chicago to Kansas were in killed in a plane crash shortly after takeoff.

The physicians were identified to the press by their hospital system; Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka, Kansas, as two of its physicians, neurosurgeon Dr. Tausif Rehman and pulmonologist Dr. Ali A. Kanchwala. The third victim of the tragedy was identified as Dr. Kanchwala’s wife, Dr. Maria Javaid, a cardiologist at the Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

This loss of these physicians is terrible news for their families, their hospitals, their communities and the APPNA family. These three physicians were bright, vibrant individuals with promising futures and they have been taken from the world too soon. This sudden loss of life creates such a void that will definitely take a great deal of time to recover from.

Lastly, we also want to express that these three physicians were heroes. Heroes, based on the news report, because of where the plane’s wreckage was found. It appears that they tried to land in a more-open area so as to not harm any people on the ground. We can take that last gesture of good will with us and all try to live as these physicians had.

Let us keep these physicians and their families in our hearts and try to emulate their work and their last moments of heroism, said Dr Asif Rehman of NY.

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