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We have lost so much in the past one year. I lost the job I had for nearly 10 years, sold a small food-stall that I started just a few years ago. My wife and I borrowed so much money from friends, family and even strangers. We’ve spent nearly 23 lakhs altogether! All this in a desperate attempt to save the life of our first child, our beautiful baby girl.
But she is still in danger. If we lose her too... for the rest of our lives we’ll have to live with that... that pain of a baby’s death. I don’t think we’re strong enough, we won’t be able to...
— Shyamprasad, in tears, unable to continue
Life had been looking up for Shyam and Sravani in 2017. They had just gotten married, he had just gotten promoted to head-chef at work, and they had just moved into a modest 1-bedroom house. Two years later, things were even better. Sravani was pregnant, and Shyam had a decently successful food-stall that he ran in the evenings after finishing up at the restaurant where he worked. The birth of their baby should’ve been the peak of happiness for them. They hadn’t realized life was about to take a dreadful turn for the worse.
“As soon as little Aushi was born, we knew something was wrong...”
They found out she was born with two problems that were killing her
“Immediately upon birth the doctors told us she had a bad respiratory condition. She had swallowed some of the waste fluid in her mother’s womb, and it had gotten sucked into her lungs. She would gasp for breath, often turning blue because she kept suffocating! For four weeks we prayed day and night while the doctors treated her. When she wasn’t getting any better they ran more scans and discovered she was also born with holes in her heart! She was fighting 2 life-threatening conditions at the same time!” — Shyamprasad, father
It took months of struggle and sacrifice for her heart surgery
The government hospital they were at told them they weren’t equipped for such a surgery, so they took little Aushi to a charitable hospital in Raipur that assured them they could handle it.
“But once we got there they said she was weaker than they had thought and wouldn’t be able to do the surgery! With no other choice we took her to a private hospital back in Vizag. Though the estimated cost was 10 lakhs, Aushi was getting weaker by the day, so Shyam sold his food-stall and I sold my jewelry. We had to take multiple loans on top of that as well. Finally, a month later later, Aushi went in for surgery. But once she reached the operation table, it got cancelled! She was too weak by then!” — Sravani, mother
They finally had to take her to Hyderabad for specialized surgery late last year, which ended up costing them 20 lakhs! They had to borrow even more money, and rely on charity from strangers to afford it.
Little Aushi’s troubles didn’t end there; she needs another surgery
“Despite the successful surgery, Aushi’s condition keeps getting worse. We’ve now discovered it’s because of a defect in her throat. With each passing week, the problem is getting bigger, worse! At first she couldn’t breathe properly because of her lungs. Now she’s not able to breathe because of this! They had to make a hole in my baby’s throat so she wouldn’t suffocate. Then they had to make a hole in her stomach so we could feed her. What kind of life is this for a newborn, why is she suffering so much? The surgery to fix this problem now will cost 4 lakhs! I know that’s just a fraction of the amount we’ve spent so far, but right now it might as well be 40 lakhs!” — Shyamprasad
They're stuck in a tiny room in Hyderabad with their dying daughter
While trying to get little Aushi treated in Hyderabad, Shyam had to let go of his rented house in Vizag, and even his job. To keep up with her monthly medical expenses of 15k-20k (excluding surgery expenses), he started working as cab driver. But with the lockdown in place, even that is gone now.
They’re running out of medication, running out of supplies. They feel trapped in the little room they’re renting, watching their baby die in front of their eyes. They need your help right now. Click here to donate.
