Little Chaitra was a happy child with an ever-smiling face. It was because of her smiling face, her parents named her ‘Chaitra’ which means ‘happiness’. Aruna, her mother would hold her close and Chaitra would look at her with an innocent smile and sparkling eyes. But everything changed when she fell ill. Now when Aruna holds her, she hardly sees her smile, she sees her baby gasping for air every minute and crying in pain. But this poor mother cannot do anything to help her. 

Little Chaitra’s health started worsening when she turned 2 months old

Aruna and her husband, Prabhakar lives in Shankarpalli, Telangana with their two daughters. Prabhakar took up daily wage jobs to support the family. With whatever little he earned he managed to feed the family. Just two months after baby Chaitra was born, she started having high fever and cold.  Blaming the bad weather, Aruna cared for her daughter but when she didn't get better, Aruna was worried. The local doctor prescribed medication but it didn't help her.

Chaitra before she started having fever

“ When Chaira started having fever, I took every pain and effort to help her recover soon. Every time I see her coughing uncontrollably and getting choked, I would hold her in my arms and try every possible way to comfort her.”- Aruna

Chaitra suffered seizures twice and needed immediate care

Looking at her little one struggling for every breathe, worried parents rushed her to a multispeciality hospital in Hyderabad. Baby Chaitra had 2 episodes of seizures because of extremely low blood pressure and severe infection in her brain. She also suffers from broncho pneumonia (lung infection) and meningitis (brain infection). She is now kept under ventilation support and making progress every day. She needs to be kept in ICU for a few more days to recover completely. 

“The moment I saw Chaitra getting fits it gave me pangs of fear and I couldn’t do anything but cry. She is just 2-months-old, why does she have to go through such terrible pain! I feel helpless for I cannot save my daughter. All I can do is just plead for help to save Chaitra from this fatal condition.”

Daily wager father cannot save his 2-month-old

Prabhakar earns a meager income of  Rs 200-300 a day. As a daily wage labourer, he has no fixed income and now he stopped working. And in such difficult times, it’s been hard for him to look after her elder daughter who is at home. Prabhakar and Aruna have no place to live in Hyderabad. They are staying in the hospital only to save her daughter Chaitra. Having no source of income, Prabhakar borrowed money from others to help his daughter recover from this fatal condition.

How you can help

Little Chaitra is just 2-month-old and she’s too young to go through such terrible suffering. She struggling to take every breath because of severe infection in her brain and lungs. There are chances that other vital organs might fail as well. She needs to be kept in ICU under constant observation and ventilator support to recover from this fatal condition. With your help, her parents can save her.