Kerala’s inspirational cancer survivor Nandu loses his final battle

Nandu is survived by his father Hari, mother Lekha, and siblings Ananthu and Saikrishna.

Tributes are pouring in for 26-year-old Nandu Mahadeva, who inspired many to fight cancer through the ‘Athijeevanam’ collective. A native of Bharathannur in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, he succumbed to lung cancer in the early hours of Saturday at MVR Cancer Centre and Research Institute, Kozhikode. Nandu was hugely popular on the social media through his messages telling cancer patients never to lose heart. He was first diagnosed with cancer on an April 1st, three years ago. Nandu had just begun involving in his family’s catering business after completing BBA when the biopsy report came in. Though he was initially taken aback, Nandu decided to fight it out. What began as a swelling on his left leg turned out to be bone cancer, said a media report on him published some time ago. Nandu began collecting information about cancer from doctors and other sources. What he later wrote on Facebook was liked by over one-and-a-lakh people - “I have cancer. I will not treat this as a terrible disease. Will treat it as common cold.” Despite many people advising against publicising his health condition, Nandu kept on talking about it.