“The villagers refuse to lend me money, saying there is no need to save a child who can't walk, talk or breathe properly. They say with all her disabilities, she is not only a curse to me, but to the entire village. But I cannot give up on my baby girl’s life,”- Dimpy, mother
Little Chandrima was born with multiple abnormalities as a result of a rare condition in pregnancy called amniotic band syndrome, where strands of the fluid-filled sac protecting the fetus in the womb (amniotic sac) separate and entangles limbs and fingers of the growing fetus. Most babies with this condition don’t survive after a few hours from birth. But Chandrima is a miracle baby, a ‘gift from God’ in the words of her parents, Dimpy and Chandan. She needs multiple surgeries to walk, talk properly and be ‘normal’ like other kids her age, but they don’t have enough funds for it and are struggling.
From birth, every day has been a struggle for her
Chandrima was born with her left leg missing from knee down. Her right leg is bent and the toes are fused. Her two arms also have fused fingers. Additionally, she has a variant of cleft lip, which makes it difficult for her to eat food.“At 10 months of age, she suddenly got fever and cold along with breathing difficulty. We had to rush her to Chennai from our place in Assam immediately as we thought we were going to lose her. It’s only in Chennai that we came to know that a part of her lung was missing at birth itself. She underwent a surgery and was fine. But doctors clearly told us that she will have many difficulties later in life if she does not undergo several corrective surgeries. From then, we have been struggling to arrange money for it,”-Chandan, father
‘She asks me every single day – Mumma, will I be able to walk to school on my own one day?”
Chandrima cannot walk and needs to be carried from one place to another. Either or both of her parents have always been at her side from birth. Despite the many difficulties that they have to face on a daily basis –juggling household responsibilities and a caring for a disabled child, they made sure to give her as normal a life as possible.“We made sure to enroll her in a pre-school where she can interact with normal children as mentally, she is fine. She understands things very well and even has bit of a sense of humor. She has a lisp when she talks and many words are unclear, but she knows her ABCs and numbers well. She asks me sometimes if she will ever be able to go to school on her own. Tears fill my eyes, but I tell her she can, one day,”-Dimpy, mother
Villagers say she is a curse, but this father thinks she is a blessing and wants your help to save her
Dimpy and her parents live in a small village in the hilly town of Silchar in Assam, where villagers have been telling Chandan from day 1 of Chandrima’s birth that she’s a curse, owing to her ‘abnormal’ appearance.Chandan, who runs a small grocery shop on rent basis, has never paid heed to these hurtful words. He has done his best for her daughter. On Rs. 15000 income that is exhausted in rent, groceries and medical expenses, he is unsure how he can afford Rs. 2.5 lakhs.
With your kind contribution, this father can save his daughter and give her the life that she deserves
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.
