“For days, my little daughter, Tista couldn’t lie on her back. The silence of the nights broke with her painful cries. Prashanta and I would put 5-6 pillows below her chest to put her back to sleep. We even carried her in our laps. Her chest pain killed her every day and we didn’t even know why. We were hoping that it would subside but it has only got so worse that without a transplant she will die.” Mita, Tista’s mother.

Her condition was undiagnosed for a long time and it became worse

13-year-old Tista complained of severe chest and stomach pain since last July. She was given medicines for acidity which didn’t work. After a few scans, Mita figured that water has accumulated in her chest cavity. Doctors gave her antibiotics hoping that it would help. Little did the parents know that there was something worse waiting for their only daughter. The delay in diagnosis was killing her.

“I was very scared when even the antibiotics couldn’t make her better. Doctors suspected something worse and her stomach was scanned. We waited in fear for another month. My child was dying in pain. We finally got to know that both of her kidneys had failed. She had very little time and the thought made me numb.”

 Painful dialysis is no longer enough to keep Tista alive

Tista has been on dialysis for a year now. She needs dialysis every 4 hours without which her body can stop functioning at any moment. But it is no longer enough to keep her alive. She needs urgent kidney transplant in the next 10 days without which she won’t live.

“When doctors told me that I can be the donor to my daughter, I was relieved that I could save her life. After Tista’s birth, I haven’t undergone any major surgery. But I'm willing to do anything for my daughter. I have no reason to live without her."

Tista’s excruciating pain doesn’t even let her eat

Tista’s kidney failure has snatched away her childhood from her. Sometimes she is in so much pain that she can barely eat anything for 20-25 days at a stretch. Mita has to force feed her so that she doesn’t become unconscious. She keeps crying throughout the night and nothing makes her fall asleep.

“We need to take Tista to the doctor very frequently. We have to either take a train. It’s very difficult to take a sick child on a crowded train, but we don’t have an option either. We can’t afford to take her on a bus or a private car. She feels tired and a little more sick every time that we have to do this. I just want all of this to get over soon. I want my family to go back to a normal life. The disease has taken a huge toll on all of our lives.”

With no savings and a huge loss in business, Prashanta is struggling to save his daughter

Prashanta has a small motorcycle garage in Andal, West Bengal. He manages to earn Rs 5000 a month. After paying to his employees and household expenses he could hardly save anything for the years. Also, after Tista fell sick he can barely go to his shop. His business has suffered a huge loss. Tista’s constant dialysis and medicines have made him lose everything he had. 

“We have spent almost Rs 5 lakhs. Every month Tista’s treatment cost about Rs 30,000. With so less income, it is almost impossible to carry out such a huge expense. Our relatives have helped us a lot, but even they are running out of money now. All I know is I have to save my daughter at any cost. But if we don’t find help, we will lose her.”

How you can help

13-year-old Tista is suffering from kidney failure and she needs a kidney transplant in 10 days. Her mother is her donor. The only thing standing in the way is money. The cost required to save Tista is Rs 9 lakhs and her parents have run out of sources who can help them in such tough times.