Padma Shri awardee and former IMA president Dr KK Aggarwal dies of Covid

New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI): Padma Shri awardee and former national president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Dr KK Aggarwal passed away on Monday due to COVID-19.
In a statement, Dr Aggarwal's family said that the senior cardiologist passed away at 11:30 pm on May 17, in New Delhi after a long battle with COVID-19.
"Ever since he became a doctor, Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal (62) dedicated his life to the welfare of the public and raising health awareness. Even during the pandemic, he made constant efforts to educate the masses and was able to reach out to over 100 million people through numerous videos and educational programs and saved countless lives," the statement read.
The statement added that Dr Aggarwal "wanted his life to be celebrated and not mourned".
"His spirit of spreading positivity in the direst of circumstances must be kept alive in each one of us. Let us remember him for his work and indomitable spirit. Kindly pray for the peace of the departed soul and for strength to the bereaved family," it added.
Dr Ambrish Mithal, Chairman, Endocrinology and Diabetes, Max HealthCare, mourned the loss of his "friend and colleague" by remembering the verses of poet Mary Elizabeth Frye.
"Lost close friend and colleague, Dr K K Agarwal, to Covid Numb... Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there; I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow, I am the sun on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain (Mary Elizabeth Frye)," Mithal tweeted.
During the pandemic, Dr Aggarwal had been posting information about coronavirus infection and the black fungus in Covid-recovered patients on his Facebook page. (ANI)