I’m not one of those proud parents who say that their children are bright and they learn everything quickly. I’m not one of those parents who complain how playful their children are and how they are kept busy all the day. My life is a routine but not normal. While other parents are thinking about the future of their children, all I can think is the blood transfusions and injections that he is having every day, without which he cannot survive.



My son Kannappan was diagnosed with Thalassemia when he was just 7 months old. He has been going to the hospital every month for 4-8 hours of blood transfusions. He needs injections every day at home to prevent complications from iron deposits as a result of blood transfusions.  No matter how much they gave him, eventually he would be anaemic. It has been 8 years, his life has not changed yet!

He cannot even pronounce the name of the disease neither I but he knows his disease better than anyone. He feels perfectly well for the first week of the month. He feels tired the next, and then as if a toy with draining battery he drags himself home. He cannot play, if he exerts himself more, he would have to rush t the hospital almost every week.



My son does not have any friends because of his illness. The greatest pain of this disease is that it never allows him to have a bond with anyone. He spends most of his time in the hospital. I can feel the pain and emptiness in his eyes. I can’t imagine the psychological trauma he is going through at this young age.

I would ask myself, “Can God create someone only to see pain and suffering in this world?” Why my son has to go through so much of pain? He has missed the most precious time of his life – his childhood. Happiness is unheard of, to say that all he has experienced only pain in his life is an understatement. I’m desperate to see my son live a pain-free and normal life like any other child.I want him to know that life is more than needles and blood.

       

 My husband works in the construction site, carrying bricks and cement all the day for Rs 5000 a month. I run back and forth to hospitals to take care of Kannappan and my 1-year-old son Dharnesh. I do not have any money left after transfusion, we borrow money even for our next meals, if this continues we will starve to death. I do not think about starving or dying, but the nightmare is not able to afford the blood transfusion. My son cannot survive without that! My family will not survive without him!