“While on our way to the hospital, we passed an ice cream shop and I could see Shoumik looking longingly at it. ‘Baba, I can have an ice cream after my cancer gets cured right?’ - he asked. I was shocked. My wife, Manami and I have consciously avoided uttering the word ‘cancer’ in front of him, but he has read it somewhere in the hospital. My eyes welled up with tears, he instantly changed the topic. My little son knows the name of the dreadful disease he has, but he is unaware that without a bone marrow transplant I won’t be able to save him.” - Supratim, father.

Always an active child, little Shoumik had no idea that the future had such a dangerous thing planned out for him

Shoumik has always been an active child who was very fond of outdoor activities. On one such day, when he was in a physical training session, he fell down and bruised his legs.

 Shoumik with his mother, Manami

“We thought that it was a fracture so we took him to a local doctor, but he told us that this didn’t seem like one. We were advised to go another hospital and there tests were conducted to confirm that my son has cancer. I couldn’t believe what I was being told, how could a healthy child suddenly get a deadly disease like cancer?”

Just when the parents thought that their son was recovering, cancer came back in his life with a stronger hold

Shoumik had been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. It is a form of cancer that affects the white blood cells. It occurs in the bone marrow and can quickly spread to the blood. He has already undergone six cycles of chemotherapy and was only getting better when he suffered a relapse. Now only a bone marrow transplant can save Shoumik get better.

“After his chemotherapy he was getting slightly better. He started going to school, enjoying with his friends and reading his favourite story books. We were all so happy - things finally started to look up. But destiny had a cruel plan in mind. Shoumik is a huge fan of cricket and since he was getting better we were planning to enroll him into a cricket coaching centre. But just when we were planning for a better future for him, his cancer came back.” 

An old pic of Shoumik 

A shopkeeper by profession, Supratim is struggling very hard to get his son the life-saving transplant

Supratim runs a small bakery shop in Barrackpore, West Bengal and earns around Rs 4000-5000 per month. But for the last couple of days, he hasn’t been able to run his shop as he was in Kolkata, looking after his son. He has already spent about Rs 8 lakhs for Shoumik’s treatment and now he needs another Rs 30 lakhs for the transplant. 

“My son gets very upset if I leave him alone in the hospital with his mother. I can’t enter his room but just before he goes to sleep he will definitely look at my face through the glass on the door. So I couldn’t help but stay in the hospital. Sleeping on the floor of the waiting hall on an empty stomach, I get nervous thinking that if I can’t arrange for the funds, I will lose my only child to cancer.” 

How you can help

10-year-old Shoumik is battling cancer and now he needs an urgent bone marrow transplant to survive. His parents are willing to be the donors but the cost of the transplant is way beyond their means. Your support can give little Shoumik a second chance at life and bring back their lost happiness.

Your help can save the life of 10-year-old Shoumik