“How much longer must I be here? I need to get back to work.” – Nikul, from his hospital bed

Nikul was just a young boy in the second standard, when his father, a drunk, abandoned his small family. With his mother, Bharati, intellectually disabled and sister too young, it had been up to little Nikul to step up and take care of them. He stopped going to school and started helping out at small shops in his town, working odd jobs here and there whenever he could find one. It was never enough for them all to live comfortably but it was enough for them to live.

Life has never been easy for young Nikul, now 16. But one month ago, he found out he has cancer.

“I had noticed a lump forming on the side of my neck one day. I didn’t know what it was, so I went to a doctor. They did some tests, and then they told me… They told me I had blood cancer. I don’t really understand what blood cancer is exactly, but I know cancer is bad, and that it will kill you. But I can’t die. There’s no one else to take care of my family. I need to get my sister married, I need to get my mom treated, I have so much to do. I can’t die. I… I don't want to die.” – Nikul, breaking down

Even now, all Nikul can think about is his family. Not his passion for cricket, in which he has won medals, not his ambition to be famous one day, not the childhood he never had. He feels guilty about being hospitalized because he has had to take money from the small amount he was saving up for his sister’s marriage, and also because he thinks each day he’s not at work brings his household one step closer to starvation.



Nikul’s family will never be able to come up with the nearly 8 lakhs he needs for his treatment. They don’t have any money, or jewelry, or land. And in just a few weeks, when Nikul loses his battle with cancer, they will be left without any means of support. Nikul cannot bear that thought.

At this critical point in the lives of this family, you are Nikul's only hope. By donating whatever you can, you would be saving not just one life, but three. Donate now.