Every morning when the school bus comes to a screeching halt outside 4-year-old Arnab’s house, he looks out of his window and sees his friends getting onto the bus and feels miserable thinking he won’t be able to join them anytime soon. He recalls the day when he was almost ready to go to school but when he tried to put his foot in his school shoe, he was unable to do so. It was since that fateful day that Arnab has not been able to go to school or anywhere else. He is suffering from a bent spine and his condition is getting critical with every passing day. His vital organs are getting affected and his only hope at recovery is an urgent surgery that needs to take place in 15 days.

Arnab’s parents noticed some abnormalities in his foot since he was a baby but could never gauge that it would be something so dangerous

Arnab was only 6 days old when his parents Raju and Aparna noticed that one of his foot showing some abnormality. They took their newborn to the hospital and he was getting treated for that. But just when the parents were being hopeful about their son, things started to change for the worse. He started complaining of a back pain and tests confirmed that Arnab has congenital thoracolumbar scoliosis. It is a vertebral deformity that causes curvature of the spine and is progressive in nature.

 

“Arnab can’t walk properly - one of his foot is bent. He tilts on one side when he walks and his spinal cord is bent. He has a lot of trouble in breathing, especially when he is sleeping during the night. I can see him going through so much pain and there is hardly anything that I can do to ease his discomfort,” - Raju Mondal, father.

Little Arnab misses school and his friends but his progressive defect has kept him tied to his bed

Arnab wants to go back to school as soon as possible - he misses his friends, playing with them during the recess and even doing his homework. He often requests his mother to send him to school at least for a day but he is in no condition to leave home. The deformity in his spine is now affecting his kidneys. He often complains of a sharp pain in his lower abdomen.

“He loves drawing and now that he is mostly at home he spends time doing that. But his spine doesn’t allow him to sit up for long. He looks forward to his friends visiting him but they leave, he usually gets upset. I look at his face and I understand that all he wishes for is get cured fast and live a normal life.”

The parents are struggling desperately to afford the life-saving surgery that can save their son

Raju is a construction worker who earns about Rs 7000-8000 per month. He is the sole earning member of his family and is working very hard to make the two ends meet. The surgery that Arnab needs at the earliest would cost him Rs 4.2 lakhs. With his meagre income, he is in no position to afford that much without help.

How you can help

4-year-old Arnab has a severely deformed spine and needs a surgery in 15 days. His poor parents, who have already spent a lot cannot afford the surgery that is absolutely beyond their means. You can extend a helping hand to these desperate parents and save their 4-year-old.

Your kind support will save this 4-year-old's life