When surgeon Forrest Eggleston and his wife, Barbara, arrived in India in 1953, their two children in tow, the impoverished country had only been independent for six and half years. The family’s destination as Presbyterian medical missionaries was the Lady Irwin Tuberculosis Sanatorium in the tiny village of Jubar high in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. There, surrounded by breathtaking views, cultural mores often inimical to healing, and mind-numbing primitive conditions, Eggleston served as the medical superintendent with skill and compassion.  During this period of time, he also developed a general surgical residency program at the Christian Medical College in  Ludhiana, on the plains of the state of Punjab, which allowed him the particularly satisfying activity of teaching.

In a voice still filled with a sense of wonder and gratitude for the incredible adventure in which he and his family too part.  Eggleston reflects on his medical mission.  Although as he describes it, “We wept for the poor of  India and felt helpless,” he and his dedicated staff made a vast difference in the quality of health care available on the plains and in the quality of health care available on the plains and in the mountains of North India. They offered all their patients loving Christian care, curing those who could be cured and not being afraid to be with the incurable as they died.