A cardiologist who worked at Abergavenny’s Nevill Hall hospital has published a book inspired by his journey after being diagnosed with cancer.

Dr Deepak Thekkoott is now based in New York and spends much of his time nurturing resident doctors in the field, but the ‘Gateway to Wales’ played a pivotal role in his career and personal life.

“Abergavenny was awesome,” he recalls fondly on an early morning call from the Big Apple.

“My son went to Park Street School before attending King Henry VIII 3-19 School and we were very active in the community. We still have friends in Abergavenny and the town holds a very special place in our hearts.”

Dr Thekkoott is originally from Kerala, India, and first arrived in the UK to study at the Royal College of Physicians in London. After graduating he found work in Scotland before coming to work at Nevill Hall in 1997, saying Abergavenny was the place he settled for longest in the UK.

There are two pages dedicated to life in Abergavenny inside the book, Silk and Clay, which is a self-proclaimed account of a physician’s journey of cancer, survival and renewed faith.

“I went to work one day as normal before experiencing a sharp pain in my right leg,” explains Dr. Thekkoott.

“Eventually I found myself in the ER, but nobody was even thinking about cancer at this stage. However, tests revealed my blood count was ten times higher than normal. It was after this I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.”

The medical professional had suddenly become the patient, which Dr. Thekkoott says left him very confused.

“The rush to fix the cancer ruins your mind,” he said.

“Naturally, there is a real sense of urgency to try to correct the physical problem with your body but my mind found it very difficult to keep up with that.”

A bone marrow transplant would replace cancerous blood cells with healthy ones from a donor after the cancer treatment had prepared Dr. Thekkoott’s body for the procedure. However, his ethnicity meant finding a match somewhere in the United States would prove to be incredibly difficult and a transplant from a twin brother would not have worked.

Against all odds, a donor was found with Italian heritage who, owing to a family relation in Italy from centuries ago, was a perfect match.

“There were times I nearly didn’t make it,” Dr Thekkoott admitted.

“At the time I knew that over half of people who are diagnosed with leukemia do not survive the disease and I knew my chances were slim. So my book is really all about not losing sight of that light at the end of the tunnel, and perhaps more importantly recovery from such an ordeal.”

“I had PTSD and needed counselling. The foreword is actually written by my therapist and I wanted to share the things I learned about body-mind healing. Reconnecting with people from past times in my life, and friends in Abergavenny, really helped me on my healing journey.”

Physical and digital copies of the book are now on sale via Amazon.