“My daughter, Sakshi always thought that I was the bravest man she knew. As a child she grew up believing that I could protect her from everything. Sometimes when she is in a lot of pain due to her cancer, I tell her not to worry and that she will become better. In return she tells me, ‘I know you will not let anything bad happen to me.’  She tells me that when I am by her side at the hospital, she is not scared. My daughter has always believed in me so much and  now I feel guilty of failing her,” - Rakhmaji, 11-year-old Sakshi’s father.

Chemotherapy alone is no longer enough to save her - she needs a bone marrow transplant

Rakhmaji and Savita’s world turned upside down in just 3 days. On May 2, she had a temperature of almost 103 degrees. Afraid that her condition would worsen, Rakhmaji took her to a local doctor, where she became so weak that her blood pressure started dipping. She had such a terrible headache that she couldn’t sit up on her bed. When the hospital sensed something wrong they told the parents to take Sakshi to Mumbai immediately from Nasik, their hometown, immediately. A few blood tests and 3 days later, doctors confirmed that she has acute myeloid leukaemia, a deadly form of blood cancer. 

“I didn’t have the money to travel from Nasik to Mumbai. But the doctors in Nasik told me that if I don’t start her treatment immediately, my daughter could die. I got very scared and decided to take her to Mumbai. Since May, Sakshi has been undergoing chemotherapy. But it's no longer enough to save my child. Sakshi needs to undergo an urgent bone marrow transplant. Although we had got a date for her transplant a few months ago, we have not yet been able to arrange the money for such an expensive treatment. As the days pass, there is a higher risk of the cancer spreading."

Cancer no longer lets Sakshi do the things she loved to, but it couldn’t break her spirit

Sakshi was studying in the sixth standard. But she had to discontinue school after she was diagnosed with cancer. The young girl loved painting and playing with her younger siblings. But now, she can't even see her siblings. She sometimes asks her parents when they will go home, but even Rakhmaji and Savita don't have an answer to that. At such a young age, Sakshi is mature enough to be her parents’ strength when they break down. Although her parents fear that they won’t be able to save her, Sakshi’s will to fight cancer gives them the strength to keep fighting.

After being jobless for 7 months, Rakhmaji doesn’t have the means to afford Sakshi’s treatment

Rakhmaji was a driver in Nasik. After giving half of his income to his autorickshaw owner, he could hardly earn Rs 4000 a month. He was somehow managing to feed his family and educate his children with his meagre income. After Sakshi started suffering from cancer, Rakhmaji had to leave his other kids with their grandparents. For the past 7 months, he hasn’t been able to work. It takes them at least 6 hours to travel from their home to the hospital in a train. Sakshi is not in the condition to travel for such long hours and hence they had to take a room near the hospital.

“I had to borrow money from my friends and relatives even for my basic needs. But even they don’t have the means to help me anymore. We have spent Rs 7.5 lakhs on my daughter’s treatment so far. I don’t know how to arrange another Rs 15 lakhs for her bone marrow transplant now. Her 6-year-old sister, Jayshree has been confirmed as her donor, but without the money, we will lose her to this fatal cancer.”

How you can help

11-year-old Sakshi has been suffering from a fatal blood cancer. She has been undergoing chemotherapy for the past 7 months, but now she needs an urgent bone marrow transplant to stay alive. Her father, a driver, hasn’t been able to work for these months and is neck-deep in debt. Without help, Sakshi will succumb to her fatal blood cancer.

Your support will help Sakshi go back home again.