It was Chandana’s second pregnancy and the entire family was very excited to welcome the newest additon to their family. When Yogesh was born, Chandana and Ravi had felt complete. Everything had been going well, but within 10 days of his birth, their baby boy started falling severely ill.

“There was blood in his stool. His skin started to peel off a little, and even changed colour. A blood test found that there were hardly any platelets left in his body. Since then, he has had to be frequently admitted to the hospital for some reason or another...” - Chandana

He suffers from a rare disease

Initially, they ran blood tests and bone marrow tests suspecting that the little boy could be suffering from a blood disorder called, thalassemia. But after innumerable tests and visiting several hospitals, Yogesh was diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome is a rare immunodeficiency disease, and patients with this condition are increasingly susceptible to infections. They often also have abnormal bleeding, which occurs due to unusually small, dysfunctional platelets in the blood.

He underwent a bone marrow transplant at just 9 months old

“The doctors told us that bone marrow transplant is the only cure for him, as his disease was growing stronger with each day and making him extremely vulnerable. Luckily for us, our 5-year-old son was a perfect match as the donor, and we put in our everything to make this transplant happen for Yogesh in March. Everything seemed great after that, and he was recovering too... but now, he is fighting for his life again.” - Ravikumar, father

In September, this year, Yogesh was down with a fever which refused to subside and he was admitted at a local hospital too. But the medications did nothing to stop the infections that attacked the little boy’s body.

He is reduced to nothing but skin and bones

Yogesh now suffers from Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD), a condition that occurs when donor bone marrow or stem cells attack the recipient. This condition tends to occur mostly when the marrow has started to make healthy cells.

Due to this condition, Yogesh is suffering from severe rashes all over his body and he is bleeding through his stool again. He has also lost weight drastically and has been reduced to just skin and bones. He has no energy to sit and can neither convey his pain to his parents. Prolonged treatment is the only cure for his suffering. But after spending everything they had on the transplant, his parents are left with nothing to continue.

“My wife is a homemaker and I am merely a labourer. We sold whatever valuables we had, and managed so far only because of kind strangers like you. We can't afford even the medicines needed to keep the infection away. Now, I am afraid we’ll fail to save him. We need your help, you are our only hope. Every penny is so important for us right now…” - Ravikumar