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“I was only two months away from finishing my 10th standard. I had been studying hard to appear for my board exams. I was looking forward to a bright future. I wanted to continue my education and achieve many things in life so I could help my family live comfortably. But my world collapsed overnight, with my cancer diagnosis. It has been over a year now, and I’m still trying to fight off this wretched disease” - Gopal’s 17 year- old-son
They thought he'd fallen sick because of exam stress, but things soon got out of hand
In February 2022, Gopal and Chitra's son was in the middle of his final exam preparations, when he fell ill. He was very fatigued, and as weeks passed, he began running recurring high fevers. At first, he attributed these symptoms to exam stress and accompanying mental pressure. But soon, things got out of control and he would feel so weak that he barely had the energy to stand.“We were quick to learn that it wasn’t because he was exerting himself for his upcoming exams, but because his blood count had dropped suddenly. A local doctor took one look at his eyes and advised he be administered glucose through IV drips. For a few hours after that he was fine, and he resumed studying… but then, suddenly, he started screaming in pain, clutching his stomach. His body was burning up with a fever again, and threw up several times in a row…” - Gopal, father
His shocking cancer diagnosis threw his family off balance, they were told he wouldn’t survive
The teen was immediately taken to a bigger hospital, where he underwent a series of tests to determine the root cause of his troubles. He was found to have an extremely low blood count, for which he received a blood transfusion. But more comprehensive tests revealed a sinister truth: acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, an aggressive blood cancer. The young boy underwent 2 cycles of chemotherapy, but then his family was told to stop his treatment and return home, so they could enjoy his last moments together because he was not going to survive.“Hearing the word cancer, both my parents started trembling in fear and sobbing, while I just went numb. Here I was, just days away from graduating school, being told that I was suffering from a deadly disease. I couldn’t even digest it at first. Then when it started to settle, I felt fear consume me. But I couldn’t let it show for my parents’ sake. The diagnosis had left them a mess, and if I had let my emotions get the best of me, they would have fallen apart completely.” - Gopal’s 17-year-old son
He persisted and beat the odds, but his survival now depends on a bone marrow transplant
After a lot of back and forth, the young boy managed to undergo 8 months of rigorous chemotherapy to bring his cancer under control. When his reports looked favourable, his family was instructed to look into getting him a bone marrow transplant, so he could beat cancer once and for all. Though delighted to know that there was a cure and their younger son is a suitable matched donor for the transplant, Gopal and Chaitra were dismayed to learn the exorbitant cost of the procedure.
His mother is physically-challenged; his coolie father cannot pay for his expensive transplant procedure
Gopal, is a coolie and earns INR 200 only when work is available to him, which is oftentimes just 2 or 3 days in a week. Chaitra is physically challenged - she’s lost the ability to walk and has been dependent on her husband and 17-year-old son. With the boy’s cancer diagnosis, the family has been thrown into extreme financial hardships and is struggling to get through each day with little to nothing.“We moved to Bangalore for his treatment, and the hospital insisted we rent a room close by just to be safe. We’ve spent more than we could afford, and even borrowed money from friends and family. We also mortgaged our valuables, and directed everything we had into our son’s treatment. Despite all of that, we are still falling short by 20.5 lakh rupees. Where will a poor man like me get so much money from? I’m so terrified that I will have to watch my son suffer until this disease kills him… ” - Gopal
Identity of the child is protected in adherence to government guidelines. 
