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“He used to be a normal baby. He used to laugh and run like other children till he turned one. After that, he lost his appetite, stopped growing and had a constant fever. He would also have loose motions or vomiting spells. Not knowing that his body is rejecting food, he cried all the time in hunger.” – Tara Singh, father
Gowtham has a rare condition that causes painful cysts in his kidneys
This April, Gowtham developed jaundice and became very sick. His stomach swelled up and his eyes and skin turned yellow. His liver was severely decomposed. But the damage was actually caused by a rare disease of the kidney: Autosomal Polycystic Kidney Disease, a condition where many cysts develop in the kidneys and affect the liver. In children, this is a dangerous condition.“Because he had fallen so sick, we had to give him an emergency liver transplant. My blood group matches his, so I donated part of my liver for the procedure. Since the transplant, he is slowly getting better. But he needs a kidney transplant before his kidney damage becomes critical.” – Tara Singh
It is essential that Gowtham gets a kidney transplant at the earliest
“He needs a kidney transplant because his kidneys aren't functioning. Every week, we need to take him to the hospital and closely monitor his condition. It will be very hard to save him if his condition turns critical. We’re hoping to somehow manage to arrange for it before that happens.” – Tara Singh
Gowtham underwent a liver transplant in late June, and is still recovering from the procedure. Also, Tara cannot donate a kidney after donating a part of his liver last month for the liver transplant. He and his wife, Sneha, are hoping that they will be able to find a kidney donor for their child before his condition worsens.
Finding a donor is not the only challenge the family needs to overcome
Tara is a farmer from Telangana. The family’s only source of income is whatever produce is harvested on their modest farm. However, for Gowtham’s treatment, he had to sell off a large part of their land in their village. The liver transplant will all be for nothing if the kidney transplant does not take place.“When is a farmer’s income every certain? We earn money when our crop grows, or we earn nothing. I sold all the gold we had and our land for his treatment so far. I also borrowed heavily from relatives and brokers. My older daughter was to begin school this year, but we have not been able to send her because we can’t afford it. We are back in the village now.” – Tara Singh
With your help Gowtham will get the chance to grow up and lead a normal life
With proper treatment, Gowtham’s condition can be managed, and he can lead a normal life. But before that he needs a kidney transplant at the earliest. His parents no longer have the means for treatment and need your help saving their baby.You can change the life of this family in their darkest times. Click here to contribute.
