International Journalist From Odisha’s Rourkela Passes Away At 42

Bhubaneswar: Kamal Kumar, who worked with international media houses like Al Jazeera and Turkish National Broadcaster TRT, succumbed to cancer at a private hospital in Odisha capital at the age of 42.

He also worked as a freelance video journalist for British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), covering stories on politics, human rights, natural history, conflict resolution, insurgency, art, and culture.

In 2000, he returned to India from Turkey and got an opportunity to do a documentary on child abuse. While preparing for the project, he experienced an excruciating headache and loss of vision. He underwent CT scan and MRI and was diagnosed with GBM wild type, a brain tumour. He was operated upon in Gurugram later that year. The biopsy of his tumour revealed that it was cancerous and that too of the last stage.

As his family, and friends pulled out resources for his treatment, his MRI report after nine months of surgery suggested that his tumour and cancer were revived. With the subsequent treatment extending to lakhs of rupees, his family then sought financial help from the public.

After the chemo sessions, he was subsequently under palliative care at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar, where he breathed his last at 2.30 pm on Friday.

Kumar will be cremated in his hometown, Rourkela, on Sunday, family sources said.