“He’s 6 years old but looks like he’s 4. He never goes out to play with the other kids because of how much bigger than him they are. He also always gets tired very easily. I just thought it was because I couldn’t give him enough food. I always blamed myself, I never imagined he had a hole in his heart.”
– Sujatha, mother, eyes filling with tears

Sujatha has been taking care of Charith and his younger sister all by herself for 4 years now

“Shortly after Charith turned 2, one day my husband came and told me that he was leaving, with no explanation. I never saw him again. With two little mouths to feed and no jobs in my village for a woman, I moved to Hyderabad. Soon I found work in a small factory as labourer, where I work to this day. I earn just enough to feed my children 3 times a day, send them to school, and buy small chocolates or biscuit packets for them once or twice a week.”
– Sujatha

 

There were some indications that Charith had this life-threatening condition, but no doctor recognized them

There were no complications during Sujatha’s pregnancy, nor the delivery, 6 years ago. The first signs that something might be wrong started when little Charith turned 1, around the time when Sujatha gave birth to his sister, Vinmay. He started getting frequent fevers, and slight breathing difficulties. But every time it happened, Sujatha would take him to a doctor, who would just prescribe some minor medication, and the problem would temporarily subside.


 

The severity of little Charith’s condition came to light this April by complete accident

When Sujatha had taken her son to a doctor for a bad cough, he had asked for some tests to be done. It was those tests that showed that poor Charith had a hole in his heart. For 6 years, his heart had been overworking itself, straining and struggling to pump enough blood to the rest of his body but failing. While the discovery finally explained why Charith wasn’t growing properly, the bigger concern was just how weak his heart had gotten.

Poor Sujatha is struggling to stay strong all by herself in this horrible situation

 

“The doctor told me that my son’s heart is just a few weeks away from failing, that it would likely kill him if that happens. If we hadn’t caught it when we did, I would have had no chance to save my son’s life. Now I do, but I’m still struggling. The only way to save his life now is to close the hole in his heart, but that surgery costs 4.5 lakhs. How can I ever come up with that much money? The most I can do for him now is to buy him his favorite biscuits. I feel like I'm the worst mother.”
– Sujatha

Sujatha has been working very hard to try and come up with the money for Charith’s surgery. But he is running out of time. He needs urgent surgery, without which he may not have long to live.

Kindly donate as much as you can, and keep this single mother from losing her son.