“She was only 6-months-old when she started falling sick all the time. We went to the doctor to get her fever and cold cured. Instead, we were told that she has a serious heart disease.”

Devi is now 12-years-old, eagerly waiting for the day she can get the life-saving open heart surgery that will finally give her a normal childhood. Ever since she was a baby, she has been going from hospital to hospital trying to get her condition treated. The only treatment for her now is an open-heart surgery. Pillayar is relieved to hear that his daughter can be saved, but he’s equally worried about finding the means for her surgery.

They’ve been shuttling between hospitals for years in vain  

Devi has a serious heart condition which has caused a portion of the heart to become thickened. This considerably decreases her heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. Devi has been living with this disease for years now, but if left untreated any longer, she might not make it.

“She has to get the surgery soon otherwise she might have a sudden cardiac arrest. We’ve been to many hospital and medical camps over the years, but every time she’s about to get the surgery, and we finally have hope, something goes wrong and we’re turned away. The first time the doctors at the local hospital told us they can’t perform the surgery and the second, her surgery was cancelled because of elections. We had lost hope.”

Finally, there's hope for Devi, but she doesn’t have much time without surgery

Devi was finally given hope at Apollo Children's Hospital, Chennai. The doctors have said that she can be saved with an open-heart surgery, but it needs to happen at the earliest. Pillayar and Sudha breathed a sigh of relief. She was only 6-months-old when they were told about her condition, and they’ve been looking for a solution ever since. Even then, they weren’t fully aware of how dangerous her disease is.

“There are no obvious symptoms for her disease, so on the outside, she looks normal and healthy. She’s tired sometimes, but other than that she seems okay. In reality, her heart might stop working any moment. Whenever I walk her to school, I keep looking at her because I’m scared she might collapse. This is the scariest part of her disease. It’s so dangerous and we will never know when death might strike. Surgery is our only hope for her.”

Devi knows about her deadly disease and is scared of dying

“She’s a little grown up now, so she understands what the doctors are saying. She asks me if she’s going to die soon. I don’t know what to say to her. How can I tell her that my inability to pay for her treatment might kill her? That I’m failing as a parent because I can’t save my only daughter’s life?”

Devi’s fears are as intense as her parents'. Time is ticking, and she knows that without the surgery, she risks having a sudden cardiac arrest. Devi and her family have been struggling for years to get her treated, and now that they finally have hope, they don’t have the means to afford it.

How You Can Help

Pillayar is a daily wage worker. He can’t afford the 5 lakhs needed for his daughter’s heart surgery, even though it’s the only thing that can save her now. Pillayar is devastated and has no one to turn to for help. With your support, Devi can get the treatment she needs and have a chance of a future.

Your support can save Devi’s life.