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On September 15, 2017, my friend Prasanth Babu Kandula suffered an acute brain stem stroke (Pontine haemorrhage) and since been battling for his life in Metro Health critical care, Cleveland.
The intensity of the stroke damaged most of the cells around his brain stem that caused paralysis in his entire body except eyes.
The intensity of the stroke damaged most of the cells around his brain stem that caused paralysis in his entire body except eyes.
In these 3 years, he weathered several complications, infections, surgeries to be stable for therapy. With all your help and support, we were able to accommodate his treatment in several hospitals (8), rehabilitation centres (2) across different cities. A rough timeline of the events of this can be viewed here in the link here.
He cannot move independently yet or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis except for vertical eye movements and blinking. He is fully cognitively aware with negligible memory loss and has complete vision, hearing and touch senses. He communicates through blinking where he spells each word by acknowledging one blink for ‘Yes’ and 2 blinks for ‘No’ when we recite alphabets to him in a sequence. Although very exhausting, he sometimes communicates through NeuroNode, an IOS interface that uses infrared eye movement sensors to help him navigate through some applications like e-mail, messages. etc.
Words cannot describe the pain, fear and loneliness he withstands. We hear his wails of anguish and sobbing every day, but his faith in God and his uncanny ability to love and forgive drives him forward. He feels sincerely indebted to each and everyone and he is determined to make us all proud. we had already collected some funds when he was in the US and All the donations collected so far has already been depleted and we sincerely request each and every one of you to kindly donate.
He cannot move independently yet or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis except for vertical eye movements and blinking. He is fully cognitively aware with negligible memory loss and has complete vision, hearing and touch senses. He communicates through blinking where he spells each word by acknowledging one blink for ‘Yes’ and 2 blinks for ‘No’ when we recite alphabets to him in a sequence. Although very exhausting, he sometimes communicates through NeuroNode, an IOS interface that uses infrared eye movement sensors to help him navigate through some applications like e-mail, messages. etc.
Words cannot describe the pain, fear and loneliness he withstands. We hear his wails of anguish and sobbing every day, but his faith in God and his uncanny ability to love and forgive drives him forward. He feels sincerely indebted to each and everyone and he is determined to make us all proud. we had already collected some funds when he was in the US and All the donations collected so far has already been depleted and we sincerely request each and every one of you to kindly donate.
There are recurring expenses of about 3-5 lakhs INR every month for the treatment, therapy and the care.
Using his NeuroNode, he has typed the below message:
“I am thankful and very grateful for all your support. Because of each and every one of you, we were able to afford to return home to my family in India and continue my journey to recovery. I have a nurse present during the day and an aide available 24/7 to assist with care. I receive physical and speech therapy for 5 hours per day. I spent the first half of my recovery in the hospital, fighting off pneumonia and different infections. Now, my body is stable enough to handle intense therapies. Each day, my muscle activation is returning and I am beginning to feel like I have more control over my body. I can hold my neck up for 45 minutes before needing rest. I can bring my arms together, the tremors that I have in my eyes and face have decreased, and I now have activation in most of my leg muscles.
This journey has not been easy for me but with faith and the support from you, friends and family, it has been possible. I know that I am still here for a reason and I will continue to give this fight everything I got. I would love for continued financial support to keep receiving the therapy services and care that I need to recover.
My therapists are very excited about how far I have come and I would like for you all to see what you have helped me accomplish.
https://youtu.be/w3dk2UYb3Sk
Thank you to all the doctors, nurses and therapists that have never given up on me. “
Here is the link for the video of Prasanth's condition and the progress he made so far.
Using his NeuroNode, he has typed the below message:
“I am thankful and very grateful for all your support. Because of each and every one of you, we were able to afford to return home to my family in India and continue my journey to recovery. I have a nurse present during the day and an aide available 24/7 to assist with care. I receive physical and speech therapy for 5 hours per day. I spent the first half of my recovery in the hospital, fighting off pneumonia and different infections. Now, my body is stable enough to handle intense therapies. Each day, my muscle activation is returning and I am beginning to feel like I have more control over my body. I can hold my neck up for 45 minutes before needing rest. I can bring my arms together, the tremors that I have in my eyes and face have decreased, and I now have activation in most of my leg muscles.
This journey has not been easy for me but with faith and the support from you, friends and family, it has been possible. I know that I am still here for a reason and I will continue to give this fight everything I got. I would love for continued financial support to keep receiving the therapy services and care that I need to recover.
My therapists are very excited about how far I have come and I would like for you all to see what you have helped me accomplish.
https://youtu.be/w3dk2UYb3Sk
Thank you to all the doctors, nurses and therapists that have never given up on me. “
Here is the link for the video of Prasanth's condition and the progress he made so far.
We all need to support him in any way possible. Please donate as much as you can and every little thing helps. Please also send him words of encouragement and support at pbkandula@gmail.com. You can also reach Prasanths sister at hckandula@gmail.com and me Chandra Devavarapu at Skhrdev@gmail.com for any questions you may have.
My name is Chandra Sekhar Devavarapu. I have organized this campaign to help Prasanth and his family. All the funds raised will be withdrawn directly to Prasanth's bank account will be used for his treatment, care & recovery. There is an active gofundme page for Prasanth. This is created to get the reach in India and other countries.
