Mangaluru: Dr Kasim, the Chief Medical Officer at Asian Polyclinic in Mecca, Saudi Arabia passed away due to heart attack on Thursday, March 18 at his residence in Mecca. He is originally a resident of Uppala in Kasaragod.

On Thursday night, Saudi time at 11 pm, he spoke with relatives on the phone and told them about attending Jumma Namaz on Friday. However, when they called him on Friday, he never received. This led to suspicion and his house door was broken down and upon entry, his body was found lying near the kitchen in the house. It is suspected that he died of a heart attack between Thursday night and Friday morning.

For the past 26 years, he has been recognized for his medical services in Uppala, Mangaluru and Saudi Arabia. He had completed his MBBS at KMC Mangaluru and had done an Emergency Health course. Deputy Prime Minister Ashwaththa Narayana was closely associated with Dr Kasim who was his classmate. Dr Kasim was actively involved as an NRI member of Mangaluru based M-Friends Charitable Trust. He has sponsored wheelchairs to hundreds of people with disabilities and have always responded to the suffering of the victims.

Before going to Saudi for employment, he opened the Society’s Hospital to help the poor. Dr Kasim has been serving in the Holy Mecca city for the past few years. He was very helpful towards a large number of tourists who travelled there. In January 2019, he saved a woman who suffered a heart attack mid-flight. When he found the passenger was breathless, he started chest compressions and after a few minutes of efforts, the woman started responding and her pulse returned. The issue was published by many media houses. Dr Kasim’s untimely death has brought pain to thousands of well-wishers abroad. He lived alone with his wife and two children, the eldest son, Dr Kamil, and the youngest son, MBBS student Shamil.