“I still don’t know what happened. We had sent invites to all our relatives for his naming ceremony. It was the happiest moment of my life but now it is just a nightmare. Throughout my pregnancy my baby never troubled me but now he has to go through so much pain. He was completely fine after his birth for a week and now my baby is on ventilator fighting to stay alive everyday.” - Shambhawi, mother
Ever since his birth, Shambhawi's baby is struggling for every breath
At just a few weeks, Shambhawi’s baby had really high fever and was gasping for breath. What they thought to be a normal cold and cough, was actually pneumonia. He was in the hospital for 12 days and they had already spent 1.5 lakhs for his treatment there.
“After being in the hospital for 12 days, the doctor told us to immediately take him to a bigger hospital as he knew something was wrong with our baby. The doctor said that he was so critical that my baby could die even on our way back home. At the middle of the night, we got so scared that we took our baby in an ambulance from Bokaro to Kolkata. It was a journey of 6 hours and all I could think of is if my baby can make it till we reach the hospital?” - Shambhawi
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The doctor's said even a day's delay can be fatal for my son
Shambhawi’s baby boy has a serious cardiac condition. He has been struggling to breathe ever since. To survive, he needs a surgery where a permanent pacemaker will be inserted to monitor and it will control his heartbeat. He needs extensive ICU care. The treatment would require about 7.6 lakhs and his parents are struggling to arrange the funds.
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“Shambhawi used to be worrisome saying she could see his ribs exerting so much pressure while breathing but I thought maybe it is normal for babies do that. I never thought that such a small thing could take my baby’s life away. I wish I had listened to my wife and taken him to the hospital earlier. Maybe, my baby would not have been on ventilator now.” - Sushen, father
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Sushen works as a salesman in a hardware shop in Mumbai and is the only earning member of his family now. He is able to send about Rs.10,000 back home in Bokaro. His baby is in the hospital since 1.5 months now and he has spent everything on his treatment. He could not cope with this trauma and got so sick that he had to be sent back to the village as there was no one to take care of him here. It's been 15 days since he has not seen his baby.
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Even after selling their land off, they still cannot afford the surgery
“After coming to Kolkata, when I got to know about my grandson’s heart condition, I immediately went and sold my land at a price lower than its value. I felt so helpless when the doctors kept giving us a surgery date but we kept delaying it because we cannot afford it. My daughter-law is in such a state of shock that she does not talk to anyone - she just keeps staring at the baby. Everything we had we have spent. Now our condition is such that we had to tell the doctors to discharge our baby. Now only you can help us...” - Ramprasad, grandfather
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