"My daughter is in ICU for the past 25 days, she is crying out in pain day and night; fever and dysentery did not subside at all.  She is begging us to take her home , she is too young to understand that she'll lose her life if we stop the treatment. We don't have anything left with us to continue the treatment.  All I'm able to do is to watch her suffer helplessly." - Anandhi, Mother of 3-year-old Parasakthi.

Blood transfusion has helped her survive this far

Baby Parasakthi was seemingly fine when she was born and lived a healthy life only for a year. When she turned 2, her parents took her to give vaccination and they were told that her blood count is very low. Sivakumar and Anandhi took her to a hospital and found that she has Thalassemia Major due to which her body couldn't produce normal red blood cells. It causes extreme fatigue and anemia and it gets worse if exposed to fever and other infections.

"We thought that only few transfusions would cure her but we ended up taking her for transfusions almost every month for the past 2 years. Any delay in this schedule would make make her very weak, she would even start having abnormal swellings on her body," - Anandhi

Parasakthi is still not out of danger - she needs constant care

Despite her disease, Parasakthi also had happy days, where she was normal and free from injections. She has a younger sister who is just 7 month old and she likes to play with her. She got used to the hospital visit and her parents were hopeful that she would be fine soon. But last month, suddenly she began to vomit everything she had. By the time her parents rushed her to the hospital, her condition became critical. The doctors told the parents that frequent blood transfusions have led to excess iron content in her body which can damage her heart and other organs.

"Doctors had said she needs bone marrow transplant and one of us should be the donor. We were wiling to give our life too but we are not matching donors, we begged the doctors to save her at any cost."

Luckily, Parasakthi found an unrelated donor and they had to start the transplant immediately to save her life. She is in ICU for past 25 days but still has a long way to fight this deadly disease.


Parasakthi with her parents

"I have exhausted everything I had, I don't know what I can do now"

Sivakumar works as a cook in Manapparai district, Tamil Nadu. He earns around Rs 10,000 per month. He has to spend Rs 5000 every month only for the blood transfusion. He works day and night and borrowed money from his friends to manage his expense. Despite his poverty, he never failed to take his daughter for the transfusion every month. He did everything possible but now he has nothing left with him to continue the treatment. He needs 5 lakhs which is just impossible for him to arrange in a short time.

"She needed this transplant, doctors said she also needs to continue the treatment for next 2 years. I did not go for work this month, I have been running to everyone I know but my friends are also poor. We are desperate to save her life, please help us" - Sivakumar

Your small contribution can save this 3-year-old's life