Patients Outside Luis' Residence Awaiting Treatment

Off the Zuari river banks in Borim-Goa at the Marsh’s edge stands the humble abode of Apolonio Luis, a man gifted with a prowess of healing people not spiritually like a Godman but through his practice of herbal / Ayurvedic medicine.

Some of the terminally ill patients after running from pillar to post and with all avenues of a cure through pharmaceutical medicines exhausted after hearing of Luis end up at his door to find the elusive cure for the various ailments afflicting them.

Having heard of this healer through some sources and curiosity getting the better of me, decided to pay Luis a visit. Nearing his place was amazed to find the narrow driveway lined with cars and two wheelers and his house swarmed thick by a crowd running into atleast two hundred people with each one trying to gain an entry inside so as to have Luis’s ear or get their ailments treated, rather.

Inorder to gain an entry to Luis’ house one will definitely be denied to approach him but by sending a word expressing a desire to see him gains an immediate audition with the man himself. Expecting to see a larger than life individual but see a simple sixty year gentleman confronting me.

Getting Luis to talk about himself, the ailments he treats, the medicines he prescribes, reactions of his patients, his ambition all too readily poured his heart out.

About himself : A farmer by profession readily admitted that he does not have any knowledge of medicine as he has not studied the same but he can diagonise and successfully treat known diseases.

His research centre named as Shri Saphed Bhumipad Research Centre, a name which has astrological significance said he was not at liberty to discuss or divulge what it meant. It seems he has a book with workout formulae admeasuring more than 2,600 plants and shrubs which he makes use of and accordingly prescribes medicines to his patients.

As regards his research, being fascinated with the wild plants, shrubs and herbs in the jungles and with a challenge to keep the grim reaper (death) away from ill people he set about finding cures for various diseases by making use of Mother nature’s bountiful resources. He would roam the jungles and hills at end to collect herbs, plants and bark of certain trees. After collecting the same he would prepare the concoctions and initially tried them out on himself to check for any adverse effects the medicines might have. Only after being satisfied that the medicines to be taken orally were harmless and did not have any side effects would he prescribe or recommend the same to his patients.

Doing a selfless service for the ailing humanity and having simple needs he does not charge his patients any money for the medicines or his services. He considers this (healing people) as a God given gift to him and feels that God given gifts should not be misused and one must use the same for the benefit of humanity.

Having a fair degree of success in treating people for various ailments he extended his research to treating diseases like Cancer, diabetes, heart ailments and even the deadly AIDS (which till today has no known cure). As to the healer he is confident of his medicines and asserted that he is able to successfully treat about 18-diseases deemed as incurable by the Indian government provided the patients walking up to him venturing hope to eradicate all kinds of diseases with his healing touch.

About the various ailments he can treat : As per Luis the heart ailment which requires bypass surgery can be fully cured within three to seven days and the costly bypass surgery avoided with only about thirty grams of his prescribed herbal medicinal powder.

About AIDS, said he was very confident of the treatment devised by him that has made a number of HIV positive patients go AIDS free.

His ambition :

He wants to form some sort of organization so that he can submit his work or provide his herbal medicines to any medical authority so that they can authentically find a solution for all cures that he claims for various ailments. His main goal is to open a hospital so that his patients can be examined thoroughly which he is not able to do now due to paucity of time as he can see them only on weekends due to his working elsewhere during the weekdays so that he can make a living. He also wants to train the youth in herbal medicine and impart knowledge of various plants and herbs having medicinal value which now only he possesses so that his work can be carried on. As per Luis in terms of herbs and plants having medicinal value Goa stands only second to Mt.Abu.

He is presently imparting his knowledge to two youths J.I. Dias and Tukaram from his locality. Was insistent that both these youths strictly refrain from taking alcohol as he himself avoids the same as he feels that prescribing medicine is a delicate task and one should not take chances with people’s lives by having their senses befuddled through the consumption of alcohol.

Asking Luis what he feels about his new found fame after having his work publicized in some of the local newspapers and also having featured on Doordarshan (DD-2) channel’s current affairs programme AAJ TAK once.

With a sigh said that the more fame he gets, means more people flocking to him hoping for a cure and this means less sleep as he can only hit the sack only after midnight (as people who come to him during the weekdays after dusk are not finished till after midnight) and then he has to get up early next morning and attend his daily chores elsewhere.

Meeting a cross section of people making a beeline to him from far flung corners of Goa with ailments like diabetes, cancer and even HIV positive cases, all replied without hesitation in the affirmative that they are very confident of Luis’s medicines and went at length to discuss about the positive effects his medicines had on their health.

Coming across various instances of people cured with his treatment :

A lady having been diagnosed as having Uterus Cancer went to Luis after getting no relief from treatment by various doctors. Taking Luis’s medicine for about seven weeks and noticing improvement in her health got herself tested again and was diagonized as not having any cancerous cells in her system.

Another lady whose husband died of AIDS and testing HIV positive after doing the necessary tests took Luis’s treatment for about five months and was free of the HIV virus after her blood test was done again. Asking Luis about his treatment for AIDS and how many cases of the same he has treated successfully :

As per him a lot of HIV positive cases were successfully treated by him but most of the people who were rid of the HIV Virus with his treatment were reluctant to come forward and disclose or admit it publicly that they were cured due to the stigma being attached to people having AIDS in today’s society.

A majority of diabetic patients awaiting their turn for their weekly quota of medicine (a bottle of it) when questioned of the effects of the concoctions had to say that after taking Luis’s medicine, the pharmaceutical medicines required to control their blood sugar count had either been completely stopped or dosages of the same drastically reduced.

Speaking to Surgeons or general medical practitioners about Luis :

Got the reply that they were aware of their own regular patients flocking to this healer and were bemused as well as surprised to Luis’s claims of cures to various ailments but cautioned that cure of any disease is deemed as successful only if there is a ninety to hundred percent success or recovery rate. That is testing any medicine on a particular batch of patients having the same ailment and each and every one of them recovering successfully.

As per Luis’s claims of being able to cure about eighteen diseases termed as incurable by the Indian Government specially Cancer and AIDS whether it is a reality or just hype that only time and lot of proven cases of ailing patients rid of their ills with his medicines will tell.

If the cures through Luis’s herbal medicine are a reality and proved to be so it will certainly create a revolution in the medical field.

Also if A. Luis can give give the world a cure for AIDS & Cancer then it will be a pride for Goa.

A.Luis
Tolpawaddo
Behind Indian Overseas Bank
Borim, Salcette
GOA

Wellington Dias Email : wellydias@hotmail.com