15-year-old Prince now sees the world through one eye. He lost his left eye to a cancerous tumor. For the last 3 years, Prince has been fighting cancer that doesn't seems to leave him even after taking away his eye. Even in this pain and misery, what haunts this teenager more is the thought that he is 'different' from others.
The kids who were once his best friends are now scared of how he looks. He is scared of going outside and facing people. Prince's parents are desperate to save him but after 3 years of treatment, they have nothing left.
Prince lives with his parents and elder brother in Vadodara, Gujarat. Being the youngest member of the family, he was most loved and pampered. When his family knew of his cancer, they were shattered.
Young Prince lost his eye to tumour after it grew to the size of a tennis ball
When Prince was just 12 years old, his left eye suddenly started swelling. His parents thought it is conjunctivitis. When they took him to the doctor, they were told that Prince has a tumor in his left eye.
Prince was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of rare cancerous tumor that affects the soft tissues and connective tissues. The tumour affected Prince's left eye. Even though he started treatment, it did not help. His tumor started growing and became the size of a tennis ball, leaving him in excruciating pain.
He had to undergo 4 surgeries to get the tumor removed. The tumour had affected his eye so much that there was no option left and he had to lose the eye.“At the age of just 15 years, it is not easy to undergo 4 major surgeries and losing an eye. Although my heart aches, I always try to smile and stay in front of him. I don’t want him to feel that just like other people even his ‘mumma’ feels he looks different. I keep telling him that he is beautiful in his own way."- Hethal, Prince’s mother.
Prince couldn’t go to school because of his cancer treatment, but that hasn’t stopped him from continuing his studies at home. Even after 3 years of fight, his cancer has not fully gone away. He also suffers from severe infections. Every day he is losing precious time and without treatment, he will not make it.
The poor parents have nothing left to save their son from the deadly cancer
Prince’s father, Pankaj works as a khakra (Gujarati snack) supplier in Vadodara. With his little income, he managed to support this family. But now after exhausting everything he had, this father is struggling to arrange Rs. 2, 90,000 needed for the urgent surgery,
“In the past 3 years, we have spent close to Rs 10 lakhs for Prince’s treatment. We arranged this money after my husband borrowed from everywhere possible. We took a loan from the bank and also borrowed from private lenders at very high interest. We had to sell the gold jewellery we had. We’re almost on the verge of pulling out our elder son from college but even after all this, we are left with nothing"-Hethal mother.
How you can help
15-year-old Prince has rare cancer in his left eye due to which he lost his eye. Even after 4 surgeries, his life is still at risk. Without treatment, this cancer can spread and kill him. His parents have exhausted everything to save him a, and now they don’t even have nothing to turn back to.
Your support will help Prince lifeSupporting 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.
