“When I visit my baby in the ICU, I can see tears streaming down his face and hear only feeble sobs. He cannot even cry loudly anymore because his lungs have become so weak. I just want to scoop him up and hold him close to my heart, because in these 2 months since his birth I have held him only once or twice. Many people told me that we are wasting our time on a baby who wouldn’t make it. But look at how he has been holding on till now – if a small child can fight this much, who are we to give up on him?”- Sona Mishra.

Sona can only watch her baby suffer helplessly

Unable to swallow milk on his own, Sona’s 2-month-old baby boy is in a perpetual life-and-death situation

Sona had a normal pregnancy and her baby was delivered at full-term. Nobody suspected that anything would go wrong until he started drinking milk for the first time. This new mother was taken aback by what she observed.

“While trying to feed my baby, I noticed that he was not able to swallow milk. His mouth was unable to contain the milk he was suckling. He was rushed to the ICU just a few hours after birth because he was also having trouble breathing.”-Sona.

Soon, the baby’s saliva started leaking into his lungs which made him turn dangerously blue

Sona and her family were so confused by what was happening to their baby that they believed taking home for a few days would be ideal. But just two days into his stay at home, the baby got a high fever, a bad cough and made a very loud whirring sound.

“He was constantly leaking saliva from his mouth. We wiped and wiped but it was never-ending. Occasionally, when he would swallow it involuntarily, he would turn blue. It was the most horrific sight as he was struggling to breathe during these episodes. We didn’t wait for him to get worse and rushed him to a hospital.”- Sona.

The small fighter may only be 2 months old, but he has already had 3 cardiac arrests and a fracture

The baby’s condition only worsened with time because nobody was able to accurately tell what was wrong with him. He was always in the ICU, on and off ventilator support. It reached a point where the baby could not survive without intensive support because of his uncontrolled secretions. The baby has already survived 3 cardiac arrests and even got his thigh bone fractured.

“How much more pain can a small baby endure? I am awed by my child’s resilience. He has survived the worst already. I know that he can make it."-Sona.

This mother is not ready to leave her baby's hand during the most critical time of his life

Sona had to take her infant in and out of many hospitals before his problem was rightly diagnosed finally

“Many doctors said that it could be a neurological defect while some said that we needed to do genetic testing to really pinpoint the issue. But nobody could reach a conclusion; I cannot blame them because I know they tried their best to help the baby. Finally, at Apollo, they found out that my baby’s throat muscles are not coordinated. This is why he was not able to drink milk properly. My heart sank when the doctors told me this, but I was happy when they told me a surgery could help him survive.”-Sona.

This baby boy needs an urgent surgery to ensure that proper breathing and feeding can happen. Right now, saliva drains into his lungs which is causing recurrent pneumonia and lung infection. Creation of separate channels will help avert this.


Sona and her husband, Jeetendra are struggling to save their baby boy

How you can help

Sona’s husband, Jeetendra, works in the finance department of a private company in Delhi and earns a meager amount every month. They had to borrow heavily from relatives to pay for their baby boy’s medical care till now. They have been away from their home in Kanpur for so many months now and are forced to put up in Delhi because all they want to do is save their child’s life.

“We have knocked at so many doors for help in such a short period. Till now, we were able to get our child’s treatment going because of others’ kindness only. My husband has taken so many leaves that he fears he will be fired from his job. I have sold all my jewellery and every expensive thing I ever owned because nothing is more precious than my baby. I need to make sure that my child gets this life-saving surgery, or he will not make it.”-Sona, tearfully.