80-year-old Lakshadweep nurse in top 10 for $250,000 Global Nursing Award after 53 years of service
Hindumbi Kaurom Kakkada, 80, still reports for duty at Govt. Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kavaratti after 53 years.
She has been named among the Top 10 finalists for the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2026, picked from 134,000 nurses across 214 countries. The winner will receive $250,000 in New Delhi later this year.
Born in Kavaratti, trained at Kozhikode Medical College, Hindumbi returned when Lakshadweep’s health system was in its infancy — ferrying patients in fishing boats, once giving a blood transfusion mid-sea, and conducting a forceps delivery during monsoon.
She has assisted over 20,000 surgeries, pushed institutional deliveries, helped contain a cholera outbreak, and served through the 2004 tsunami and COVID-19. She retired at 60 but returned in three months as a contract nurse.In 2023, she received the Florence Nightingale Award from the President of India.
