Riddled with unbearable pain, Sivakumar is slowly forgetting what his life was like before cancer. Instead of books and pencils, he is surrounded by medicines and needles. His left leg is swollen and this once-active child has been confined to a hospital bed. He has lost the lustrous hair he was blessed with, and a weak, famished face has replaced a sweet, smiling one.

“We live in constant fear of losing him. Every day is a battle with uncertainty because we have no money to keep our child’s treatment going. He needs a total of 4 cycles of chemotherapy to survive. Somehow I struggled and arranged money for two cycles, but cannot afford the rest. My son will die without treatment, and I can only watch helplessly.”-Manju, father with tears in his eyes.

A small bruise turned out to be the first sign of a life-threatening disease 

One day, Sivakumar returned home from school with a bruise on his left leg. His parents did not worry much too about it as he was always an active and playful child who would fall often. But only this time, this was no normal bruising.

“After just a few days, that place where he bruised started swelling up. We couldn’t understand what was going on. He was crying uncontrollably –  we knew something was really off because he is not a child who cries unnecessarily. My husband rushed him to the local doctor in our hometown of Kollegal immediately and we were not prepared for the news that was awaiting us”-Lakshmi, mother

Manju was not mentally or financially prepared for Sivakumar’s diagnosis

The doctors at the local hospital advised to take Sivakumar to a bigger hospital immediately and his father obliged, despite being really short on funds. Many blood tests and lab reports later, Sivakumar was diagnosed with bone cancer.

“I couldn’t control my tears when the doctor said the word ‘cancer’. No parent can hold back their emotions when such an unexpected tragedy happens to their child. I tried hard to put up a brave face in front of Sivu, but I failed. I had to give excuses when he asked me why I was crying.”-Manju.

This daily wager and his wife left everything behind and went to Bengaluru for Sivu’s treatment

The doctors told Manju clearly that his son wouldn’t survive without urgent chemotherapy and so he left everything behind (including the couple’s younger daughter 5-year-old Mahalakshmi in the care of her grandparents) and left for Bengaluru with his wife and son.

“We just left in the next train to Bengaluru, with blank minds and heavy hearts. We didn’t even pack enough clothes because it was an emergency. All we cared about was our son’s life”-Manju

Manju somehow managed to take his son to a good hospital, but he is struggling to afford further treatment

Manju earns only Rs 200 per day. With this amount, he was hardly able to feed his family of three and take care of household expenses. After Sivakumar’s diagnosis, his financial troubles increased manifold. He begged and borrowed to get him two rounds of chemotherapy, but Sivakumar needs two more rounds to survive.

“I begged and fell at the feet of everybody I knew, even acquaintances. That is how I was able to get him treated till this point. Now I am left with nothing. My wife and I are starving, but that doesn’t matter because Sivu is getting well. But if we stop treatment at any point, he can die.”-Manju, with tears in his eyes.

How you can help

7-year-old Sivakumar can become handicapped or even die if he does not get two more rounds of chemotherapy and a leg surgery. His father, Manju, has borrowed from everybody he knows, but still cannot keep up with treatment costs. He needs help to save his son.