Share
“It’s very difficult for a mother to sit beside her child and watch him go through such agony. Each time I see him flinch at the injections and hear his cries, begging us to take him home, I can’t help but cry along. I just feel so helpless, unable to do anything! If I could, I would take all his pain away in a heartbeat. God, please liberate him from this suffering. He’s our only child!”
- Parneet Devi, mother
He would urinate blood, and the medicines didn’t have much effect on him
Only a month ago, 7-year-old Shivam had been a bubbly and healthy child like any other. Or so his parents had thought. Until, one day, they noticed that he was urinating blood. Terrified beyond words can express, they hurriedly consulted a doctor, who prescribed him Ayurvedic medicines.“At first, it seemed to be working. The bleeding reduced with each day, and within a week, he was urinating normally. But then, 15 days later, there was blood in his urine again. This time,we knew that it was something much worse and mere Ayurvedic medicines wouldn’t be enough…” - Suresh, father
Scans found a tumour near his kidney, and it turned out to be cancer
When these parents rushed their child to a hospital, they were advised to get an ultrasound and then consult a urologist. There they found out that not only did their child have a tumour near his kidney, but it was a rare type of cancerous tumour. Shivam was diagnosed with Wilms tumour, the most common cancer of the kidneys in children.“I felt my knees go weak at the doctor’s words and my wife had sunk to the floor, holding our child in her arms and crying uncontrollably. The doctor assured us that with appropriate treatment, our child could recover and lead a normal life again. But that did little to ease my worries and fears.” - Suresh.
He fell critically ill amid treatment, they thought they were going to lose him
Shivam soon began his treatment at a more-equipped hospital in Howrah, West Bengal, quite a distance away from the family’s hometown in Jharkhand. He needs 7 cycles of chemotherapy and a possible surgery in the future, depending on his condition. But right after he was administered the first cycle, Shivam fell critically ill, and he had to be rushed to a hospital, where he was admitted in the PICU for over 5 days.“We thought we were going to lose our child in that moment. We were terrified! But our son is a fighter. He powered through the worst, and came back to us. He is determined to fight this to the end and beat cancer. But we are the ones failing to save him.” - Parneet Devi
They didn’t expect for their son's treatment to leave them financially shattered
“All these years, I have been able to support my family with what I make. But, it was only when my son’s treatment began that I realised just how meagre my income truly is. My monthly earnings are barely enough to meet the hospital expenses of a single day. I’ve used up everything I had. How will I save my son in this state?” - Suresh
Suresh, a powerline worker in a private electricity company, makes a monthly income of INR 15,000, which has hardly been sufficient to keep his family afloat. But with his son’s hospital bills piling up, he’s run out of all his savings. Even the money he borrowed from his family and friends has been exhausted. Now he has nowhere to go or no one to turn to for help.
Shivam’s treatment will cost INR 7 lakh, an impossible sum for his father to afford on his own. You can help him with your contributions.
