Inspiring story of Rahul Dravid conversing with a terminally-ill cricket fan over Skype

Rahul Dravid

Quora is a question and answer social media website, which has been around for over four years now. There are a lot of cricket questions asked on the website from time-to-time on various topics, ranging from queries on the spirit of the game to debates on Sachin Tendulkar’s greatness.

In 2013, one user decided to pose a question which read: “What is Rahul Dravid like in real life?”

Rahul Dravid communicating via Skype (image via Quora)

While there were many great stories on Dravid under that thread, one answer from an anonymous user surely caught everyone’s eye. The story goes about on how the former Indian captain, with his busy schedule not allowing him to meet his fan in person, made a special effort to have a conversation with a terminally-ill cancer patient on Skype.

The user narrates how his/her friend expressed his desire to speak to Dravid while he was on his death bed. Despite the best attempts of the narrator and his/her friends, they had little hopes of reaching India’s former number three batsman. But they were in for a surprise when they received a call from Rahul’s wife Vijeta Dravid who told them that the star cricketer has gone through their e-mails and was ready to converse with his young fan via Skype.

Dravid then spoke to the bed-ridden cricket fanatic for nearly an hour, even apologising for not being able to make it in person to the hospital. The Bangalorean didn’t stop there, going on to have a chat with other people present, including the boy’s parents, doctors and other patients present in the ward.

The narrator’s friend, who was suffering from blood cancer, did not manage to pull through with his fight against the deadly disease, but the joy of speaking to his idol must have eased the struggles he had to face during his final days.

Watch the video of the conversation here:

The entire story as narrated by the user on Quora is below:

A year back, my friend was seriously ill with Cancer. He was a huge fan of Dravid. So much that whenever he batted he recalled Dravid's shots and tried to emulate them.One day a couple of us went to see him in hospital. He was being treated for blood cancer. His condition was critical and chances of recovery were negligible. We used to discuss cricket a lot. Even during his critical condition, when it was extremely difficult for him to utter simple words, he would relish any discussion on cricket. When we were leaving, he expressed a desire to talk to Dravid. We started contacting Dravid from all the possible sources we could. Though we did not hope that we will get any reply from Dravid.A few days later, one of us got a call from Veejeta, Dravid's wife. Dravid had gone through our emails. She was definitely touched by our efforts and expressed Dravid's desire to have a Skype chat. We were unsure if Dravid could make it because of his busy schedule.But he did. Dravid talked with my friend in the hospital for almost an hour. He apologized for not able to come in person. The smile on my friend's face was precious. He was beaming with happiness. Not just that, Dravid talked with his parents, his doctors and all other patients in the ward. Dravid made sure that he left my friend and his parents motivated after the conversation. After that hour there was positive vibe in hospital.We recorded the entire conversation. Unfortunately, my friend could not survive the harshness of cancer. The gesture which Dravid showed definitely made him gather courage for some part of his fight with cancer. When I watch the video I see my friend's face smiling and content. I feel proud that during his last days we were able to make him smile.In case you read this, thank you Rahul Dravid!