"Every mother wishes for her child not to be mischievous but I wish the exact opposite for my child. I want my child to run around my house, tease us or make me run after her to feed her. But my Nandhana could never do those things because of a hole in her heart and now if we fail to get her heart surgery done, I fear to even utter what could happen to her..."- Pushpa, mother 

Born with a hole in her heart, this little girl is unable to live a normal childhood

4-year old Nandhana Priya was born with a large hole in the centre of her heart, that pointed towards the right instead of the left side. She is unfit for any activity due to her congenital heart condition. She has extreme fatigue and always feels heaviness in her chest. Sometimes, if she walks a little extra, she starts feeling dizzy and keeps gasping for breath.

She underwent an open heart surgery when she was just 2 years old to help her heart filter the oxygen-rich blood from the bad blood. But one surgery was not enough to rectify this condition and now she needs another Fontan surgery to repair her heart valves to prevent them from pumping blood in the opposite direction.

These parents prayed for her medicines to work but she still needs a heart surgery

"We prayed so badly for her medicines to work in the last 2 years because just the thought of my baby going through such a complex surgery again was terrifying to us. She would frequently start running out of breath even without any activity and turn all blue. But after her last check-up, our worst fears came true when the doctor informed us to prepare for another surgery urgently."- Ramaiah, father 

Ramaiah used to earn his daily bread by working as a labourer until Covid-19 shut down everything completely. He would go for work daily in the hope of earning something for the day, only to return disheartened seeing those stranded roads. For someone who was struggling to earn Rs.200 a day, even thinking of saving up 8 lakhs for the surgery was out of the question.

They feared of losing their newborn even before they could name her

It all started after 3 months of Nandhana's birth when she was down with high fever. Pushpa and Ramaiah were expecting it to be a routine check-up until the doctor asked them to get her Echocardiogram done.

"At first, we found it very strange because how could such a small baby have a heart problem? But when they measured her heart rate and blood pressure, both were abnormally high. Our world turned upside down when what we were thinking of to be a routine check-up for our baby turned into a nightmare. Even before we could prepare the list of names for our newborn, we were handed over a list of precautions to take to keep her alive till the surgery."- Pushpa, mother 

Babies born with this condition usually need 2 open heart surgeries over the course of a few years because their body is too fragile to handle the complications of such critical surgeries all at once. For Nandhana too, this final surgery can gift her parents a chance to help their only daughter live a normal childhood.

This can only be possible if we help them afford their daughter's surgery and post-operative ICU care by donating to the cause.