“Did we do this to our Saba?” a question Mustaq often asks himself as he watches his little daughter spend her childhood in the confines of a hospital. He blames himself for so many things – the dangerous disease that Saba now has and the cure for this that he can’t afford.

“We’re from a very small village in Maharashtra. I got married to a distant relative..within the family. They say that’s what caused this. Which means we are the reason for her suffering, her own parents! I will never forgive myself if I can't save her in time.” – Mustaq, father

“We noticed that she was falling sick too often. We thought it was a regular fever and gave her medicines. But nothing helped. We had to take her to the hospital near our village for more tests. When the results came, the doctor’s first question was if we were married within the family. We were shocked, we didn’t know what this would mean… we didn’t know at all.”

A childhood filled with pain or a chance of a permanent cure – what would you choose for your child?

Saba (6) has Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that causes fewer red blood cells in the body. The doctors gave her two options – either she will have to undergo painful blood transfusions for the rest of her life, or get a bone marrow transplant, the only permanent cure.

“We don’t want her to spend the rest of her life in and out of the hospital…they told us that blood transfusions can also cause damage to the organs over time. We don’t want her to suffer any longer. What would you choose if your child was suffering so much? We also decided to do that, but we just can’t afford the transplant.”

Saba needs a bone marrow transplant at the earliest. But Mustaq earns only Rs. 7,000 per month working in a textile market and can’t afford the treatment that costs lakhs. Mustaq has managed to arrange for 1 lakh after borrowing from people, but that’s nowhere close to what Saba needs.

Saba is now very scared of hospitals. Every time she gets an injection, she cries out in pain. Sometimes, they can’t find a vein in her hand and she’s poked multiple times till they do. This will be the only life she knows if her parents can’t afford her bone marrow transplant soon. Mustaq has taken her from their hometown to Jaipur and now they are finally in Mumbai. This is her only chance. 



6-year-old Saba needs your help to survive this dangerous blood disease.