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Guelph's Dr. Naidoo retires after 58 years of caring for children

Dr. Bala Naidoo never planned on being a doctor, but thousands of Guelph families are glad he is

Dr. Bala Naidoo has spent 58 years as a pediatrician, touching many lives along the way.

From Cape Town in South Africa, to Zambia, Kingston, Peterborough and finally to Guelph, where he has spent the past 45 years.

“It’s my time,” Naidoo says about his retirement with a soft smile.

Receptionist Mira Perencevic calls him "a boss that everybody would like to work with" and "a doctor that everybody needs to have in life.”

“It is not just a job for him. That's his life. He is retiring at the age of 82. That says everything,” Perencevic says.

With a cheerful, humble and good spirited attitude, he recalls some memories from the past.

In the beginning, being a doctor was not part of the plan. 

“I didn't want to become a doctor. It happened by chance,” says Dr. Naidoo.

His father couldn't read or write and wished for his son to become a doctor. But Dr. Naidoo waited until the deadline for applications to medical school had passed so he could show his father the rejection letter. Something he says his father would be okay with because he at least tried.

“Surprisingly I got an application form and got accepted.”

So he left for medical school at the age of 17 and travelled 2,000 miles away from home to the University of Capetown.

“The only exam I almost ever failed in medical school was pediatrics,” says Dr. Naidoo during an interview at his Surrey Street office.

“The question they asked me which made me almost fail the exam, was exactly the same question they asked me in Montreal (while being qualified to work in Canada) and I didn't know the answer then either.”

The question was about a rare disease about cultural patterns called Pompe disease.

“My exam was at 7 a.m. and at 7 p.m. at night I had a train to get back from Montreal. The last question they asked me in that oral exam was the same question. I didn't answer because I had to leave to catch a train,” says Dr. Naidoo.

“I come to Guelph. Guess what the first case I see in Guelph? Same disease, Pompe."

After spending two summers in a small hospital in the countryside in Capetown with a talented doctor, Naidoo says he learned the basics of medicine.

“I went to medical school but I learned the core of medicine from this guy. If he would have taught me engineering, I would have loved that too,” he laughs.

After graduating in 1961, he worked in South Africa for three years and then lived in Zambia, moved to Kingston for four years and then Peterborough for one year before finally landing in Guelph, which was also not a planned decision.

“A friend of mine visited me in Peterborough and he left his new suitcoat behind. A year later I returned it to him. He was in Fergus. So driving through Guelph we saw the Church of Our Lady and it was so beautiful and we thought, Why don't we just stay here?” says Dr. Naidoo.

“Guelph is a very nice town. It brings the best out of people.”

When asked why he didn't retire earlier he says “I really don't know. A lot of things in life you really can't answer why you do what you do.”

“I've never had a bad moment, says Dr. Naidoo”

He says there are learning experiences all around and credits those around him for fashioning him to become the kind of human being that he is.

In 1973 he transferred to a children's hospital in Kingston that took care of children born with severe birth defects, a real turning point in his life.

“I came from Africa where if I saw one healthy child, it would make my day,” says Dr. Naidoo.

“I come here and they put me in this place. I began to talk to the kids and you just change,” he says with tears in his eyes.

When the news of Dr. Naidoo’s retirement came, people took to Facebook to post how he touched their lives for generations.

“I don't feel that I am unique in that way. Everybody does something nice,” he says.

He says by postponing his retirement, he had the opportunity to learn a lot from different generations.

One of the key principles he lives by is the attitude towards his patients.

“You don't judge people. I don't want to hear gossip about my patients. I just don't,” Dr. Naidoo says sternly.

“Doctors send me notes, I don't read the notes until I see the patient. I don't want to be prejudiced by anyone else with an opinion.”

Naidoo says his patients have always inspired him to reflect on life.

“I really have had a lot of fun. There's so much to learn from these kids,” says Dr. Naidoo.

Dr. Naidoo has left a lasting impression on many of the patients and their parents in Guelph. He touched the lives of many by his rare combination of compassion, humility, kindness and talent.

“He never ever turned anyone away or never said no. You could always go in and see him at any time which I think everyone appreciated,” says the mother of one of his patients, Amanda Short.

She says if there was ever a time when her daughter was very sick, he would call her home at night to check up on his patient.

“He just was above and beyond,” says Short.

“He's a lovely person and anyone that I talked to that had any experience with him, everyone feels exactly the same way. So lucky to have had him as a part of their lives bringing up their children and just really blessed.He instilled a confidence in any parent.”

Dr. Naidoo’s will officially retire on March. 29.


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Anam Khan

About the Author: Anam Khan

Anam Khan is a journalist who covers numerous beats in Guelph and Wellington County that include politics, crime, features, environment and social justice
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