It has been 15 days since Debnath’s entire body has been paralyzed. He can’t do anything but blink. Sometimes, tears roll down his face when his parents come to see him, but he can’t call out to them. In desperation, Ganga and Timir sold the half-acre of land they had to start their son’s treatment – it was their only source of income.

“We didn’t get much from the land. About Rs. 30,000. They knew how desperate we were. We knew it was less, but we didn’t have time to look for other buyers. We had to start his treatment.” – Ganga, mother

His helpless mother blames herself for his condition

Ganga and Timir are uneducated. They wanted to give their son Debnath (8) a better life than theirs, a good education. In January this year, Debnath joined Albert Mission School in Jhargram city. Last month his parents got a call from the hostel warden saying that their son was sick, he was vomiting constantly. He couldn’t breathe.

“Now I wish I hadn’t left him alone there. Maybe if he was with me this wouldn’t have happened. I blame myself.” - Ganga

The doctors tried explaining to Ganga that this could have happened anywhere, at any time. However, Ganga is inconsolable.

In just 3 days, his entire body was paralyzed

Before Ganga and Timir could reach the hostel, a 4-hour bus ride from their village, his condition had deteriorated. For the next two days, Debnath was in a hospital in Jhargram when suddenly he fell unconscious and his whole body got paralyzed. He had to be taken to Calcutta immediately in an ambulance. Debnath has Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare and dangerous disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves. This spreads quickly and paralyses the whole body. Debnath is now in the ICU, on ventilator support. He’s fed through a tube, and his parents can only see him once a day.

They used the money they had on his education - they can't save him

Debnath needs to stay in the ICU for at least 4 more weeks to start recovering from this debilitating condition. In the past two weeks, Ganga and Timir have spent many days without eating a single meal. After selling their land and borrowing from relatives, they were able to afford 3 lakhs for his treatment so far. They made only Rs. 15,000 last year, and they used that money to send Debnath to a better school. Timir and Ganga have nothing left to save him from this disease.

Debnath can get back to his happy, active self with your help.