SURAT: Removing his shirt, Dr Amit Sardesai, 46, showed multiple surgery scars on his body while trying to convince a female post graduate medical student to quit opioid pain medicine addiction and embrace life.
The homeopath doctor’s therapy worked and the woman chose to lead a normal life and today, practices as a doctor in Mumbai along with her doctor husband.
Opioid injections are also used for anesthesia purposes.
“I shudder when I look back at those days of addiction.
But now, I will not let others pass through the same pain.
After fighting a long battle against drugs for my own life, I feel that I have been chosen to help others,” Sardesai told TOI.
As an outreach worker at Nashabandhi Mandal’s drop-in centre in Pal, Sardesai not only treats addicts for illness but helps them quit the addiction.
Sardesai’s journey as an addict started in 1998 when he was a college student at Ahmedabad and later also in the city.
He used to consume liquor and after studies, started taking Pentazocine (opioid pain medicine and anesthetic) injections to get a higher kick.
“As the addiction worsened, I took 28 injections in a day.
It led to abscesses in the body where I took multiple shots but that did not stop me,” said Sardesai.
His family bungalow was sold and later his apartment too in which they lived due to expenses on Sardesai.
His clinic was closed and his wife migrated to another city with their son.
After almost 14 years and losing every precious things in his life, Sardesai successfully quit opioid addiction in 2013.
But he continued to consume liquor.
He met with a life-threatening road accident in an inebriated condition that left him with serious permanent damages on both hands.
“I lost everything dear to me in life due to addiction.
But with a hope for survival, I quit it all with help of de-addiction counselling,” he said.
“Sardesai is totally addiction free today and there can be no better example than the man himself working with us to encourage others in the grip of drugs.
This is one of the reasons why we hired him,” said Vinay Solanki, project director, Parivartan Vyasan Mukti Kendra.
Sardesai’s son is about to complete his college studies and the doctor hopes to reunite with his wife soon.
He is also looking forward to starting a de-addiction centre in the future.