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"Our older son, Ayush, had been very sickly as a baby. For most of the first year of his life, he was constantly in and out of the hospital - although he grew up to be healthy. But, that period was extremely difficult for us and financially, we were completely spent. When our second child was born, he was healthy from the get-go, and we felt like luck was on our side. So we named him ‘Lucky’. But who knew his fate would be the exact opposite of his name?" - Pravin, father
Their healthy baby started showing strange symptoms, out of the blue
For 8 months after his birth, Lucky had been in good health, much to the delight of his parents who had been dreading the possibility of him being a sickly baby, just like his elder brother. But this sense of relief was also shortlived because, Lucky began to display severe symptoms that his parents were unfamiliar with not soon after.“It started with a relentless fever and extreme weakness. We took him to a local hospital, where he underwent some treatment, but it seemed to have no effect on him at all. The doctors suspected it could be something else, and had him undergo several tests. That’s how we found out then that he had thalassemia, and his body isn’t making sufficient levels of blood to sustain him...” - Saritha, mother
He was once at the brink of death, but beat all odds to survive
Since the day he was diagnosed nearly 10 years ago, Lucky has been getting monthly blood transfusions to regulate the blood levels in his body. The moment his blood count begins to drop, he gets sick and weak. While he is usually transfused with one bag of blood, there are certain times where he requires two bags. However, blood transfusions are not a surefire way of guaranteeing Lucky a healthy life. There are many risks involved with getting long-term transfusions, and his parents learned that the hard way.
“In May, this year, he had to be admitted in the ICU because of an iron overload in his liver, as a result of the transfusions. He was unconscious for nearly 25 days! We’d known that transfusions wouldn’t cure our son completely, but what could we do? That was the only treatment option I could afford, and we thought that the tablets they gave him for maintaining his iron levels would be enough. That day, when we rushed him to the hospital, I felt real fear - the fear of losing my son. I never want to experience that again…” - Pravin
His life may be cut short, without a bone marrow transplant
The only permanent solution for Lucky’s condition now is a bone marrow transplant, where donor stem cells can help kickstart bone marrow function to produce healthy blood cells. But this is a procedure costing INR 38 lakhs, which isn’t easy for Lucky’s poor family to afford. Lucky’s father, Pravin, works in a private mask-making factory, earning a monthly income of just INR 12,000 with which he provides for his family and even bears his son's medical costs.Over the years, because of back to back expenses for both his children, this father has had no opportunity to put aside savings for his family’s future. Not one to be indebted for long, Pravin has also ensured to pay back everyone he has borrowed money from for his son’s treatment. But he has absolutely no way to afford Lucky’s life-saving transplant.
"I hold out hope that this can be the end of all our troubles because I have seen first hand how my niece recovered from the same condition that Lucky has with a bone marrow transplant. The 38 lakh rupees is like a huge mountain in front of me that I need to cross. I don't know how I will do it, but I will never stop trying to cross it. I don't care what happens to me in the process. I have lived my life and I am happy with it. But my son - he is just starting his life. I just want him to have a fair chance to live it. I want to save him at any cost." - Pravin
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