GOOD SPORTS: A Hero to Millions
Dr. Chandra Sankurathri lost his entire family—wife Manjari, son Kiran and daughter Sarada—in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland in 1985. The Indo-Canadian man turned his unimaginable personal tragedy into something positive, creating the Manjari Sankurathri Memorial Foundation (MSMF) in his wife’s honor. The foundation operates SriKiran Institute of Ophthalmology (named after his son), which has provided free cataract surgeries to about 1.5 million people in India, and Sarada Vidyalayam (named after his daughter), which provides free education, meals, and school supplies to hundreds of children from underprivileged families in Andhra Pradesh.
Last fall, Sankurathri was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by his alma mater, Memorial University of Newfoundland—but only because they don’t have an honorary doctor of heroism degree.
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