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"I still don't know why he left. He just left us one day and never returned. It's been 15 years now but still... when there is a knock at the door, I hope it's him. My children, Aditya and Sunaina, were only 7 years and 3 years old back then. They hardly have any memory of their father. After he left, I have been their mother and father both." - Manki, mother
She has blood cancer, but they thought it was jaundice
Since August, Sunaina has been having severe back pain. It worsened so much that even after 3 to 4 painkiller injections, there was no relief. When she developed a high fever and swelling in her legs, some doctors diagnosed it as jaundice. And for 25 days her hemoglobin kept going lower and lower as she was getting the treatment for jaundice, whereas it was actually Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (blood cancer).
Her mother washed dishes, and her brother dropped out of school, to afford her treatment
There is no job that Manki has not done to raise her kids. She has washed utensils as a domestic help at other households, did cooking and even worked as a daily wage labourer sometimes. All she wanted was to be able to feed her kids and make ends meet somehow.
"With Sunaina's treatment cost exceeding 8 lakhs, my son Aditya had to leave his studies and work at a fast food stall. Even when both of us work, we aren't able to get more than Rs. 10,000 every month. I have sold every piece of jewellery from my marriage that I had saved for Sunaina's marriage and we already owe people about Rs. 4 lakhs now." - Manki, mother
Her elder brother can only wish for a miracle to save his sister now
"As a kid, I have seen my father abandon my family without looking back even once. There have been days when I have seen my mother break down in the kitchen when all the relatives blamed her for my father leaving. Since then, Sunaina and my mother have been the pillars of my life. I am her elder son, I have dreams to study and take up a job that would end all our miseries. But right now I don't want anything else except for my sister to live. I've always promised to protect her, I can't lose her now… I just can't." - Aditya, brother
Sunaina has not been able to deal with the after-effects of chemotherapy well. Sometimes due to the pain she just screams and cries. After every session, she is losing her hair and appetite. If they delay the treatment due to lack of funds, her situation will only get worse. Please help her with your generous contributions.
