NY – Priya Khanna was perhaps always destined to practice medicine and not necessarily because she belonged to a family of doctors.
Daughter of a surgeon and pediatrician who immigrated from India and settled in northern New Jersey in the early 1970sKhanna explored other activities before deciding on the vocation that would mark her life.
“He was a very good person. He did not kill a fly. He was unable to pursue something that required a ruthless attitude,” said his younger sister, Anisha Khanna. “He tried other things and realized that he didn’t like any, except for medicine.”
Priya Khanna and her father, Satyender D. Khanna, contracted the coronavirus and they died days apart in April. They worked very close to each other in the hospital where Priya had been born.
Along with three other family members who are doctors, the Khannas helped incalculable numbers of lives. Anisha and her mother, Kamlesh Khanna, had a pediatric office at their home in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, 12 miles from New York. Another Khanna daughter Sughanda is a doctor in an emergency room at a Maryland hospital. The father, Satyender, was a surgeon for four decades.
One of the doctors who treated Priya in his last days had been his student. Dr. Niki Kasinathan remembers her as “the nicest person in the world”.
The family lives in the same house that Satyender and Kamlesh bought in the 1970s. Theirs was an arranged marriage that made Kamlesh move to New Jersey, where Satyender studied medicine.
“I met him on a Thursday. We got engaged the following Thursday. We were married on the third Thursday and we were here by the fourth Thursday,” Satyender said.
The first years were tough, he recalled. In those days there was no thriving Indian community like now, and Kamlesh found it difficult to adapt to the new culture and the challenge of starting a pediatric practice in a male-dominated environment while raising four children. Her husband was always busy.
“He worked day and night, he was in charge of all emergencies, in any difficult case,” he said. “He was a good father, but not like today’s parents, who change diapers, give milk to children. He adored his daughters and gave them everything he could, but work was always first.”
Sughanda idolized her father and wanted to be a surgeon, says her mother. Priya considered studying law or doing business, but ultimately opted for medicine and specialized in nephrology, the study of kidney disease. Anisha followed in Priya’s footsteps and studied at the Montclair Kimberley Academy and Drew University, near her home, before going to Kansas City School of Medicine.
“Our parents were an example. I dedicated myself to my profession because of my mother, who is a very strong woman,” said Anisha. “But I really admired Priya, who was my older sister and always protected me. I miss her very much.”
Satyender started feeling bad in mid-March and a week later he was taken by ambulance to Clara Maass Medical Center, a small Belleville hospital. Kamlesh was able to visit him for a few minutes, wearing protective gear. It was the last time she saw him.
Priya had problems with her immune system and isolated herself at home. But soon he began to exhibit symptoms. When her condition worsened, she was taken to the hospital and given oxygen. When Kasinathan saw her former teacher for the first time, Priya was awake but had difficulty breathing and having a conversation, although she was still able to send messages to other doctors asking about her patients.
“It was devastating to see on the other side, as a patient, someone who helped shape you,” Kasinathan said. “As a doctor, you know what’s going on and I suspect she was aware of the situation and knew that if she needed a respirator, she probably wasn’t going to be able to get out of this.”
Anisha, her sister and mother were in contact with Priya via FaceTime most of the time the first days. Her father was put on a respirator two days after being admitted and was unable to communicate with them during his agony. Five days later, Priya was also piped.
Priya spent ten days on a respirator and passed away on April 13, at age 43. Her father died on April 21, unaware that her daughter had also died. And five days after their golden anniversary. He was 77 years old.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Kamlesh Khanna. “This is all very hard. I don’t know what to do, how to get through this.”
“It is a very cruel disease. We could not be with them, take them by the hand, accompany them,” added Anisha. “My sister was so warm, I think she would have cared about that.”
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