Share
“All we ever wanted was to become parents. We had talked about it since the day we got married…we just wanted a cute little child to call us ‘Appa’ and ‘Amma’. But our dreams have turned into nightmares. We have been experiencing loss like it is a curse following us.”- Kaleeswari, mother.
Kaleeswari and Parthipan, who tied the knot in 2017, waited for two whole years before they were blessed with a child, a baby boy, in 2019. They believed that all their prayers had finally been answered, but to their shock, he passed away within two months of his birth. As they grieved over their first child’s shocking death, their second child, a baby girl, was born in 2020. Unfortunately, she too passed away within two months of her birth.
These distraught parents did not know why this had happened – after all, they had done everything right – Kaleeswari had never missed a doctor’s appointment, had taken all her prenatal vitamins on time and had nutritious food as suggested by her gynaecologist.
But tests had revealed the unexpected – both their children were born with a rare disease called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a severe systemic inflammatory syndrome, that can be fatal. This syndrome can sometimes occur in normal people with medical problems and can cause a strong activation of the immune system, such as infection or cancer.
Their baby girl could now face the same fate as her deceased siblings
Kaleeswari and Parthipan had almost given up on the idea of becoming parents and raising a child, when they were miraculously blessed with another baby girl a couple of months ago. They prayed and hoped for this baby to be disease-free, but they were met with disappointment yet again. A blood test revealed that their innocent baby girl had the same disease as her deceased siblings, and could also face the same fate as them if steps to save her aren’t taken soon.“The doctors at the Chennai hospital that we admitted her for further treatment told us clearly that she needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. Never before had we even heard of the disease that she is suffering from, or the procedure. Our baby’s tummy is now bloated, and she has patches all over her skin. Her days are numbered…we know this very well, and this scares us.”- Parthipan, father.
‘We are so poor that we have never had any savings…we won’t be able to arrange funds for her transplant’
Parthipan makes a living by working at a pani puri stall in Coimbatore, the nearest big city from his village. He earns only INR 15,000 a month, which is barely enough to cover his own expenses and rent. He also has to send a portion of it back home to his wife. This has left him with no savings…his family lives hand-to-mouth every month. His baby’s treatment expenses burned a huge hole in his pocket, and he is deep in debt as a result.“I had to borrow from friends and moneylenders to afford her tests and treatment until now. The bone marrow transplant that will save her life costs a fortune – something I can never imagine making in this lifetime. I need your support to save her before it is too late. We cannot lose yet another baby…we won’t be able to forgive ourselves if that happens again.” - Parthipan, tearfully.
It is only with your kind help that these poor parents can save their baby girl before she succumbs to her rare disease. Click here to contribute.
Identity of the child is protected in adherence to government guidelines.
