The only licensed doctor across nearly 386 square miles of northeast Georgia, Irakli Khvedaguridze serves as a lifeline for a remote community of Tush people
During the summer and early autumn, before heavy snow blankets the mountain peaks, Irakli Khvedaguridze gets to his patients on his white horse, Bichola. Later in the season, when the snow reaches too high for the horse to gallop, Khvedaguridze converts his shoes into skis, using a pair of sanded birch planks nailed with wide canvas. Once the snow rises above his knees, he can only travel on foot.
Irakli Khvedaguridze tends to a shepherd, Rezo Partenishvili, who was experiencing agonizing back spasms, stomach cramps, and other ailments. Khvedaguridze gave him a packet of pink pills to take with meals and an injection to relieve the pain.A few years ago, an intoxicated patient in the village of Omalo had to be airlifted to a hospital in the lowlands of Kakheti after he accidentally shot himself in the stomach with a hunting rifle.
In 1941, the year Khvedaguridze was born, sheep-keeping was the lifeblood of Tusheti. The twice-yearly With his horse, Bichola, at his side, Irakli Khvedaguridze, walks down the steep descent en route to the home of a patient several miles away. To save time, the doctor chose to ride through winding mountain paths.“My father, my grandfather, all my ancestors were born here,” Khvedaguridze says. “This area belonged to us.”
“He often gives old, traditional treatments, including herb teas and pears. It’s not always pills and antibiotics,” says Ivachidze, adding that she worries about what will happen once Khvedaguridze is gone. “He’s the oldest and wisest person we have. Who would replace him?” In addition to back spasms, Partenishvili suffered from stomach cramps, diarrhea, and chronic sciatica. Khvedaguridze gave him a packet of pink pills to take with meals, then retrieved an injection with some red liquid from his bag: indomethacin to relieve the pain. Partenishvili muttered that he didn’t want it.
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