Well-known Moodbidri-based surgeon, researcher, naturalist, trekker, cyber techie and amateur photographer Dr Krishna Mohan Prabhu (55) passed away at A J Hospital on Tuesday.
He was admitted to the hospital on December 8 and was later diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.
According to hospital sources, he had been administered two rounds of chemotherapy, but it could not be continued as his body was unable to sustain the aggressive treatment. He was in the ICU for the past two weeks.
Dr Krishna Mohan Prabhu, known popularly as ‘Krishi’ among his friends, studied at Jain School in Moodbidri and did his MBBS and MS in general surgery at Kasturba Medical College (KMC). He was the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Prabhu General Hospital, Moodbidri.
Entrepreneur Sumith Rao remembers Dr Krishna Mohan Prabhu as a great photographer who used to conduct classes for amateur photographers.
He also used to be a conservationist, a wildlife enthusiast and one of the first to use the internet through satellite phone connection to Bangalore when there was no internet connection through phones or cable.
He was a team member of the 1990 expedition to Brahma I, to scale 21,050 feet of the world’s 17th toughest peak on the western Himalayas. During this ascent, he had spent an entire fortnight alone at one of the expedition camps in the Himalayas.
A nature enthusiast who was a part of the Worldwide fund for nature, he was an active member of wildlife first.
He has worked in the game sanctuaries of Madumalai, Bandipur, Nagarhole, among others. He had teamed up with environmentalist Ashok Vardhan to buy land in Bisile with the sole aim of conserving and nurturing wildlife.
They also had installed a container-cum-house to help wildlife researchers during their stay in the forest.
Dr Prabhu is remembered as a helpful person willing to help anyone during a medical emergency or any other time.
He was also a blogger who used to blog about his photography and his camera work at remote places like Alaska and the Himalayas.
He was a daily blogger and had tremendous insights into photography and the medical field.
He is survived by his wife Dr Radhika Prabhu, a daughter Neethi, his mother and three siblings.