when I was first introduced to this guy at school, the introduction was like -Meet Arun, he is basketball champion!
I thought silently -how can a person with short height play basketball well enough to be called a champ? A good height is typically required in basketball!
But I was terribly wrong! He proved his skills again and again and needless to say, has played basketball as a national level player in competitions organized by SGFI (Spots and games federation of India) and that too -twice in the year 1998 and 1999.

He could have perused his passion to become a professional player but due to a un-conducive atmosphere at family, he chose the noble profession of teaching. After his father expired untimely, he is the only earning member in the family of four- his mother and two dependent brothers. After teaching on ad-hoc basis for some time, he got selected as an assistant professor in a college. The happiness of this selection was still to sink-in while a small pimple-like lump inside his body was turning into a cancerous tumor.

The Cancer Strikes!

Within the next few weeks, the small pimple- like mass has grown to a scary looking tumor. This tumor was to be removed by surgery. But before that, a biopsy was conducted. Little did he know that it will bring a very bad news. The biopsy report confirmed Malignant Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer. To add insult to injury, it was already in advanced stage...Melanoma is actually unusual and uncontrolled rapid growth of pigment cells. While melanoma is less common, it is very serious as it has a tendency to spread to other parts of the body. When it spreads to other places in your body, it's called metastatic, or advanced stage which is the case here with Arun.



It changed his life! He was rushed to TMCH (Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital), a premier institution in India for cancer treatment. He is still admitted there and after many rounds of consultation, he is advised to go under the knife for tumor removal and get Immunotherapy treatment. Immunotherapy also called biologic therapy, is a type of cancer treatment that boosts the body's natural defenses to fight cancer. This therapy is not only costly but takes a long time to complete. Kyetruda/Opdivo/Yervoy-some popular drugs used for immunotherapy cost 5-8 lakh for a single month's dose! However, it is very necessary to get this therapy now so that spread of cancer to other parts of the body can be avoided.

Please Help a champion to stay a champion!

The cost of complete surgery plus treatment is around 20Lakh. After adding the cost of post-treatment medication the total cost is expected to exceed 25 Lakh. It is not that Arun did not save money. He had some savings but all have ended on initial rounds of diagnosis and surgery. So he is left with insufficient money to cover the cost of Cancer treatment. This is where your role comes in. Please contribute any amount you can. Even if you cannot donate, you are requested to share this campaign with people who can support Arun financially and morally.
Arun is a very optimistic person and by your support, I am sure he can emerge as champion after fighting cancer. So please help a champion to stay a champion. A Facebook page has also been created from where you can get in touch with him. Check fb.me/HelpArun