For four years after our marriage, we didn’t have kids. My wife, Jancy, used to get really upset and thought having a family of our own wasn’t in our fate, but then we were blessed with two baby boys, born only one year apart from each other. We were so happy to see both happy and healthy, crossing little milestones together. Roshan is very energetic, and Joyal's smile makes even the toughest days bearable. When I come back home after a long, tiring day of work, their warm embraces remind of why I need to work harder. All I want is my children to have a better life than I had. I want them to grow up and have a respectable job and a happy family.

Like most children his age, Joyal fell sick when he was 11 months old. For a day we thought it was a passing fever, but it only got worse. He was diagnosed with dengue. After that, his condition only deteriorated. Suddenly, our baby couldn’t even breathe on his own. Every breath was a painful struggle. We didn’t understand what was happening, so we rushed him from Villupuram to a hospital in Chennai where they told us that his windpipe was completely blocked. Before we knew it, they were taking him from a surgery. They told us it was urgent, and we knew we had to do anything to save our son. He had a surgery to make an opening in his neck to help him breathe. Now he can only breathe through the tracheostomy tube. It's so painful to watch him with all these tubes. He just turned one and he’s already been through so much. His life has become all about hospitals. But he can’t live with only the tube for long. He needs a closure surgery immediately so that he can breathe like a normal child.



Joyal is too young to understand what’s happening to him. There are times when he feels alright, so he smiles and laughs like he used to. For a moment, even I forget that he’s fighting for his life and just watch him be his cheerful self. But within minutes, his discomfort and pain sets in and he starts crying. I can’t imagine having a tube stuck to my neck all the time. He’s so small. He doesn’t understand that it’s keeping him alive, so he tries to pull it and take it out. That only hurts him more, so he cries loudly. It’s heartbreaking to watch him like this.



My baby is supposed to be in the hospital until his next surgery, but I can’t afford to keep him there so we took him back home. I feel like I’m the worst father in this world for taking my son back home when he should be getting treated in the hospital. He trusts me and holds on to me, looking at me with his big, bright eyes. Those eyes only have tears now. I can’t let him go but how can I manage to get so much money? I’m only a daily wage labourer. I don’t have the means to afford lakhs for his surgery. I have no strength to even look at him now. I will never forgive myself if I lose him.

How You Can Help

Joyal needs 3 lakhs to have the tracheostomy closure reconstructive surgery at the earliest. Anothonysamy has nothing left to give his son the treatment he needs. Joyal is only 1-year-old and has already been through so much. This surgery could be the end of his suffering.

Your support can save Joyal’s life.