They’re Sleeping On Footpath To Afford Their Baby's Treatment, But They Can't Save Her

She came into our life after eight years of marriage. That was the happiest day of my whole life. I was waiting to take her home and show my beautiful baby girl to everyone who told me I can’t become a mother. But before I could even hold her in my arms, they took her away from me,"– Jeevitha, mother

Jeevitha and Velu were trying to have a baby for eight years and their joy knew no bounds when she got pregnant with a baby girl. She gave birth in a government hospital and due to complications with the baby’s breathing she was kept in an incubator immediately. Only after four days, the doctors diagnosed that the baby had a hole in her heart.

The doctors told that my baby choked while they fed her with milk. They asked us to take my baby to another hospital. I was so scared and rushed her to another hospital overnight - Velu, father

On reaching, the baby was diagnosed instantly and was kept in intensive care in the new hospital. The newborn has to undergo immediate open-heart surgery to be cured completely. The surgery must be done immediately to save the baby's life and the whole procedure will cost around Rs 8 lakhs. But the parents are so poor that they can’t even afford to pay for the daily medicines.

Eating three meals a day seems like a luxury that I cannot afford

I work as a mason. I borrowed Rs. 5000 from my employer for my baby’. It’s been fifteen days and all that money is slowly getting exhausted from buying medicines and food. My wife and I are now sleeping in the pavement near the hospital at night and when it rains, there is no place to sleep too.  I skip my meals to buy food for my wife because she needs to eat to feed our baby - Velu

He is finding it extremely difficult to spend even a hundred rupees per day to buy his baby a diaper

Velu has no one to support him or lend him money and he is in a helpless situation. He cannot take his baby home if it doesn’t get urgent surgery within a week. With no place to sleep and no money to buy food, affording a huge sum of 8 lakhs for the operation is something beyond his capability.

At least one baby dies in the ICU every two or three days without getting timely surgery or treatment. While we wait outside the ICU we could see parents crying, holding the dead child in their hands. My wife starts crying seeing it. She asks me, “Is our baby going to be the next one to die? I want to take her home soon”. All I do is act strong in front of her and console her, but deep inside I too have the fear of losing my child. The only thing that keeps me breathing is the hope that God will show us a way out of it," - Velu

Please help this couple by saving their baby from the verge of death. With your timely contribution and help, you can save the life of a baby and bring happiness to a struggling family.

Supporting Document

The specifics of this case have been verified by the medical team at the concerned hospital. For any clarification on the treatment or associated costs, contact the campaign organizer or the medical team.

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