“It is a truth I can never come to terms with. My 4-year-old daughter has Blood Cancer.”
4-year-old Meghla asks her father everyday, “Baba, when will we go home?” The toddler has spent a whole month in the hospital now. The glum, slow life on the hospital bed is too much for the once-active little one. Her father Shyamlal is struggling to find the answer. A month in the hospital with no income has left him heartbroken as well.
Meghla had slowly started turning blue in places.
It was over a month ago that Meghla started complaining of a stomach pain. She would wake up suddenly at night and start crying out of pain. Slowly, she started developing blue spots on her body, that began to spread. Her stomach pain would not let her eat as well.
Meghla’s parents were clueless, and decided to consult a doctor. Their healthy little toddler, who never made a fuss over food, was suddenly refusing to eat anything.
At first the doctors detected a swelling in the liver.
Meghla’s parents immediately brought her to Hyderabad. The first hospital detected a swelling in the liver which was causing the little one unbearable pain. When further tests were conducted, the family was sent to Yashoda Hospitals, where they could access better facilities for her treatment.
Meghla was diagnosed with Blood Cancer.
“I will never forget the day the doctor told me that my daughter has cancer. I just started hoping it was all a dream. I had been running about hospitals for too long. Maybe I would open my eyes and it would all get better. My daughter is too small to have Cancer. She has barely lived,”
Shyamlal’s journey to save his daughter’s life began before he could come to terms with the fact that his daughter had been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. The 4-year-old is suffering from Refractory T-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (T-ALL), a type of blood cancer.
She can only be saved by urgent chemotherapy and transplant:
Little Meghla can still be saved. She would need 6 cycles of high dose salvage Chemotherapy and a Bone Marrow Transplant at the earliest. With her condition worsening day by day, Shamlal is losing hope. The combined cost of the chemotherapy and transplant would be between 40 and 45 Lakh.
This is the only way this toddler can live.
How you can help.
Shyamlal works as a helper in a shop. He earns Rs. 8000 a month. Despite this income, he managed to arrange around 3-4 Lakh to keep the treatment going till now.
“It was just 2 months ago that my daughter used to eat so well. She used to love dancing. Her little feet wouldn’t stay still at the sound of music. She could not even bear a small scratch. To see that same child bedridden for days, with needles piercing her tender skin in places, makes me want to break down and cry.”
Shyamlal’s helplessness is evident, but his toddler is unable to express her pain in words. She is bravely holding on to life, despite her body failing rapidly.
Any contribution would add more days to this 4-year-old’s life. Shyamlal can save his daughter’s life with your help.