Cab driver cannot afford to fix 1-year-old's dying heart | Milaap
Cab driver cannot afford to fix 1-year-old's dying heart
  • DN

    Created by

    Dr Niveditha
  • RS

    This fundraiser will benefit

    Rahul Singh

    from Secunderabad, Telangana

Rakhi loves those nights where her baby Rahul sleeps uninterrupted - his eyes closed peacefully and not a sign of worry on his face. But such nights are very rare, as Rahul always suffers from breathlessness and cries uncontrollably the moment he is put to sleep. But what really scares Rakhi is that her sweet baby turns blue when he runs out of breath. Rahul suffers from a serious heart condition because of which his body does not receive enough oxygenated blood. His surgery was supposed to happen months ago, but his father, Lakhan, a cab driver, has not been able to gather enough funds for it. He has taken way too many leaves so far because of his child's illness and fears he won't have a job anymore. Then how will he save his son?

Now, 1-year-old Rahul's condition has become so bad that his heart could fail any moment. He has not spoken his first words or taken his first steps, but fate may not give him that much time.  

These parents tried finding help in multiple places to save their baby, but all they have gotten is rejection so far

Rahul is the first baby of Rakhi and Lakhan. Before they could even revel in the joys of parenthood, they were struggling to keep their baby alive. Residing in Hyderabad, they went to different cities to find a ray of hope for their child, but they were unsuccessful in getting him treated.

Since my baby was just 1-month-old, we discovered that he has tetralogy of fallot, a combination of four heart defects where oxygen-poor blood flows to the body. What makes his condition worse is that he also has a hole in the heart. Doctors told us that he needed surgery by the age of 1 year. But I think we were simply cursed. While some hospitals gave us a cost estimate that was beyond our capacity, others turned us away saying that we had to wait. We didn't have time to waste, but money was so sparse,” Lakhan, Rahul's father.

 Rahul’s condition is rapidly deteriorating to the extent that he might not be able to survive without urgent help

This baby's surgery has been delayed for so long because of this family's poverty, but his bad heart has now started giving up on him. He wakes up every morning coughing uncontrollably, followed by vomiting. The little one can neither play too much or eat much. He has constant fevers and cough and cold. His normal skin color has become blue because of his heart condition.

“I don’t understand where did we go wrong that our baby is suffering so much. He literally lives on medicines now. Due to his failing heart, he is not even growing the way he should be. In 6 months, he has lost 1.5 kg. He is becoming weaker. Every passing day puts his life in a little more danger. He needs the heart surgery urgently or we will have to watch him slip away from us helplessly."

Lakhan is at the risk of losing his job because he skips work regularly when Rahul falls ill; he does not have a way to save his son

Lakhan works as a driver in a private company. If he’s able to work for a complete month, he earns Rs 12,000 a month. But with Rahul’s persisting sickness, he often has to skip work and run to hospitals with his sick child. Not only his income has been affected, he is on the verge of losing his job.

“Our families never accepted our marriage. In a situation where most people turn to their families for help, for Rakhi and me, even that path is closed. We had got some help from our office. Nothing seems to be working right now.”



Lakhan had managed to borrow Rs 1 lakh from different sources, but that has been spent on hospital visits and medicines. Every rupee that Lakhan had saved is gone now. He is struggling very hard every day just to gather the required funds, but all he ever gets is rejection.

How you can help

Little Rahul has a severe heart condition which is becoming fatal for him. The cost required for the heart surgery now is Rs 3.5 lakhs and his parents have no means left to save him. Rahul is in a critical state and has very little time left without and urgent surgery.

This is a supporting campaign. Contributions made to this campaign will go towards the main campaign.

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