As investment bankers, Deepali Sharp and her husband Kristian lived a millionaire lifestyle that most of us can only dream of.
The couple ate out every night at exclusive restaurants, both drove a top-of-the-range Porsche and they always travelled first class.
But their gilded world was thrown into sharp relief when their first child was stillborn.
Inspired by the medical care they’d received, they gave up their jobs and used their savings to train as doctors.
Former London Investment Bankers Deepali and Kristian Sharp, with their children Sachin, 13 and Amika, 11, as well as their Labradoodles Georgia and Teddy
Mr Sharp in the doctor’s room at Wishaw General Hospital, where he trained as a doctor (left). Deeply Sharp pictured during her medical training at Glasgow Royal Infirmary during the night shift (right)
The couple pictured on holiday in Antigua celebrating leaving Investment banking in 2004
Now, they have finally qualified as GPs – and although they have given up their designer clothes and exotic holidays, they say they are happier than ever.
‘Until our son was tragically born dead I could always cheer myself up by going shopping,’ says Deepali, 44, ‘but losing our son made me realise how empty my life really was.
‘Now my old life seems a dream. But while we can no longer afford a millionaire lifestyle, Kristian and I are both so much happier.’
When Deepali became pregnant for the first time in 2002, life seemed easy and free of cares.
Her husband, 42, worked as a credit derivatives trader for Merrill Lynch, and the pair divided their time between a multi-million pound town house in central London and an exclusive apartment in New York’s East Side.
Pictured on their Medical Graduation from Nottingham University in July 2010 with children Amika and Sachin
Mr and Mrs Sharp on their wedding day in 2000
Pictured on an engagement trip to Lucknow, India, in 1999 (left) and pictured in more recent times (right)
Deepali said: ‘Until then my only worries were whether to buy Prada, Gucci or Nicole Farhi. Once Kristian wasn’t sure which designer handbag to buy me – so he bought five and they each cost around £500 each.’
Initially, all seemed well during her pregnancy, but at 20 weeks their unborn son was diagnosed with a serious heart defect. At six months he was stillborn.
The bereft couple tried to carry on. ‘But suddenly our old lives just seemed so shallow and empty,’ Deepali said.
To fill the void, Kristian began helping out at a local hospice in the evenings. Meanwhile, Deepali volunteered at the HIV unit of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
She said: ‘We’d both been so moved and impressed with the doctors who’d cared for me when I was having our son – and throughout our ordeal – that it seemed a way of giving something back.’
However, she soon found herself becoming more interested in medical issues.
On holiday in the Turks and Caicos Islands, when they very first met, back in 1996
‘I would talk to doctors about the various options for treatments available. I found it fascinating.
‘One day one of them said, “maybe you ought to become a doctor yourself”.’
Her husband was supportive, and so she decided to enroll at Nottingham University to study for a medical degree.
She added: ‘By then I’d had our second child, Sachin – I even breastfed him in the lunchtime during my entrance exam.’
Deepali’s enthusiasm inspired Kristian so much that a year later he too decided to give up work and joined her training as a doctor.
A three-year-old Sachin playing with his sister, who is aged nine months at the time of the photograph
Another picture of the couple during the holiday to the Caribbean where they first met
Two years later she gave birth to their daughter, Ambika. She recalls: ‘By now we’d both moved to Nottingham, using money saved from our previous jobs to put ourselves through medical school.
‘The only leftover from our previous lives was our Porsches.’
Training to be doctors was tough for the couple, but in 2010 they finally qualified, completing their GP training last year.
They have now settled in Glasgow with their two children, now aged 11 and 13.
Reflecting on how their lives have changed, Deepali said: ‘These days I shop for bargains in ordinary supermarkets and buy all my clothes from high street stores.
‘Travelling first class would be unthinkable – we always book package holidays away.
‘But we look at our lives and we are so happy and content. I feel so lucky we know what it’s like to have so much money because we know for sure that money is not the route to true happiness.
‘We know all the designer clothes and jewellery in the world doesn’t make you happy. And we feel richer than ever.’