“My daughter has been in the ICU for the past 21 days. In all these days, I have not gone home even once. I can see her only twice daily – at 11 am in the morning and 4 pm in the evening. At other times, I pace up and down the hospital halls waiting for updates from the doctor. I cannot eat or sleep…my child has not opened her eyes for so long and is very critical.  I wish I could take all her sufferings away, I wish I was the one on the hospital bed instead of her,”-Arvind Singh, father of 13-year-old Komal Rani.

Komal always loved studying, even though she never could attend many classes at school

Komal has always been a weak child. In addition, she also suffered from breathlessness regularly so much so that she could never walk even 200 m without panting and running out of breath. Her parents took her to many doctors in their hometown of Noida, but nobody could ascertain why she had these problems. She also had to miss school on most days due to her ill health – but that didn’t stop her from studying.

“Even when she was too weak to go to school and stayed back at home, she would make sure to read her books and do her lessons. She was always afraid of lagging behind her peers. She always stood in the first 3 ranks of her class,”-Arvind

‘By the time we realized that her piercing headache was due to her bad heart, it was too late’

When Komal turned 8 years old, the nails on her arms and legs started turning blue, which prompted her parents to take her to a superspecialty hospital where it was found that she had a hole in her heart that was contributing to lower levels of oxygen in her body. She had a surgery immediately, and it was assumed that her problems had gone away. She was fine for a few years until last month, when she started getting frequent, piercing headaches. Doctors gave her painkillers and even did a CT scan – they could find nothing wrong with her. But slowly, her body started giving up.

“One day, she stopped breathing completely. Fluid had also accumulated in her stomach. She was rushed to the ICU and an urgent heart surgery was performed. Soon , she developed a deadly infection in her heart and lungs and they are completely damaged now. My poor daughter is hanging on to life by a thread, and there is nothing I can do about it. I had vowed to protect her against every evil, now I feel I have failed as a father,”-Arvind

This father can only pray for his daughter’s health as he can’t afford to save her

Arvind works as a machine operator in a private company in Noida, and earns a modest income which was enough to take care of the needs of his 4 member family – including wife Sharda, daughter Komal (13) and son Harsh (10). He made sure to send his children to a good private school, even though it was not really affordable as he wanted them to have a good future.  He had borrowed a lot of money for Koma’s first surgery and had not paid back dues before her second surgery a few days ago. But the expenses are just keeping on increasing – after Komal developed deadly infections in her heart and lungs. Only continued ICU care will save her, but Arvind cannot pay for it.

“I gave away my insurance and whatever savings I had. Still, my daughter is not out of danger. I can’t do anything but pray as I am helpless,”-Arvind

With your kind contribution, this father can save his daughter who is in a life-and-death situation