Mary Kom a relieved mother, her son's heart surgery successful

Mary Kom, who won the gold in the Asian Cup women boxing tournament in China on Monday, had to rush to Chandigarh as soon as she landed here last night to be with her son.

Her three-and-a-half-year old son K Khupneivar, who is suffering from congenital heart disease, underwent cardiovascular surgery at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.

Mary Kom's husband Onler, who was looking after his son, told PTI from Chandigarh that the surgery had gone without problem though his son is still in the Intensive Care Unit for post surgery recovery.

"The surgery is over now without any problem. My son is still in the ICU as is required after any operation," Onler said.

"Mary is relieved that the surgery is over without problem. I was looking after Khupneivar when she was in China. She is now with our son," he said.

Onler said it was a tough decision for Mary to go for the Asian Cup but everything has turned out for the best.

"It was a very difficult decision for Mary to go to China for the Asian Cup but we wanted her to take part in the tournament. My son was very happy when he knew that her mother won a gold," he said.

"We have a Manipuri friend who is a heart doctor here at PGI. So we decided to do the surgery here. Mary had to rush directly to the hospital from Delhi Airport. Now everything had turned out for the best. She has won gold and the surgery is over without problem," he added.

28-year-old Mary Kom, a mother of two from Manipur, defeated her North Korea rival Kim Myong Sim 4-3 in the final of the 48-kg category to win gold.

Besides winning five consecutive world titles, Mary Kom has four Asian Championship gold medals and 11 national titles under her belt. She is an Arjuna Awardee and has also won Padma Shri and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.

She won a bronze medal in the 2010 Asian Games in China.