“For the last three months, my baby has been suffering so much. She has cough and cold and sometimes, even runs a high temperature. She hardly eats anything these days. The medicines she needs to get better are so expensive but I don’t even have Rs 20 with me. I look at her little face as she cries out in pain and I get reminded of those happy moments we spent together as a family. I long for those days to come back, but all I see now is hopelessness ahead of me.” - Shujadhulla, father of little Azwa Fathima. 

What was thought to be pneumonia turned out to something far more dangerous

Little Azwa has been diagnosed with Chronic Granulomatous. It is an inherited immunodeficiency disease which makes the body more susceptible to infections caused by certain bacteria and fungi. People with this disease are unable to fight off common germs and get very sick from infections that would be mild in healthy people. Azwa is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant but the poor family is in no condition to afford the treatment.
 

“My wife, Sameena and I have been taking her to so many doctors when she started falling sick about three months ago. But the medicines that she was being given didn’t seem to make her any better. They said it was pneumonia but only recently we got to know that it was a rare disease that is slowly killing my baby.”

The little baby weighs 5 kgs and is in so much pain that she’s unable to sleep at night

“Azwa is 11 months now and still she weighs only 5 kgs. She hasn’t grown any teeth at all, and the doctors told us that it is because of her disease that she is not growing properly. Only thing she has is milk. Often I have noticed that she passes blood in her stool and urine. I am so scared for her - every day we miss providing her the right treatment, I feel we bring her close to her end.”

The disease has brought down Azwa's immunity to zero but it is difficult for anyone to understand it from outside. She is in a lot of pain and is unable to sleep at night.

Azwa with her mother, Sameena

Despite selling his auto, Shujadhulla in unable to afford the life-saving treatment for his baby girl

An auto driver by profession. Shujadhulla had to sell his auto to arrange for the money that he needed for Azwa. Along with that, he also had to take loans worth lakhs to continue the treatment. However, the bone marrow transplant will cost him around Rs 35 lakhs. Deep in debt, Shujadhulla is in no condition to arrange for the transplant without help.

But you can help baby Azwa get a better life

11-month-old Azwa is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant but his poor family can’t afford the treatment. But you can make a small contribution to bring back the lost smiles on the faces of little Azwa and her parents.

Together, we can save baby Azwa