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Every morning 9-year-old Namitha puts on her school uniform and runs out of the house, before her parents can take her to the hospital. Her parents just let her, even though they know there isn't a bus waiting for her. They know she is just tired of her chemotherapy. They know she wants to run away from all of this, from the pain of cancer. They wish they could take her pain away.
“One day she fell sick. It was a mild fever and we did not worry too much. The fever subsided. But her teachers told us she wasn’t concentrating in class. It went on for a few weeks, and we scolded her, and asked her to pay attention. Then we noticed she was losing weight and she complained of a severe stomach ache. We now regret that we ignored it. We did not know what she was going through...” – Chikanna, father.
They went from hospital to hospital, only to find out that their daughter might die of blood-cancer
Soon they noticed a strange boil on her back, and took her to an hospital. Later, scans revealed the presence of a tumor below her chest and the parents were told they might lose her. She was diagnosed with a chronic myeloid leukemia – a type of blood cancer.“Imagine someone telling you that your child will live if fate wants her to! We were devastated. Without wasting time, we begged them to begin the treatment. But after the treatment started, she suffered from mood-swings and seldom ate. She lost her hair, and would cry looking at herself. She has sat through three months of the treatment, but the tumor remains…” – Shilpa.
An urgent bone-marrow transplant is her only hope
After 3 sessions of chemotherapy, the doctors concluded that the only way to make sure the tumor is entirely gone, is to have an urgent bone marrow transplant. Her little brother, the donor, is ready, but the surgery and after-care will cost 20 lakh rupees and the parents are helpless.
“He adores his sister. When he first saw her head shaved, he scolded us and cried. He asked us to get her hair back. There have been days in the recent time, when she’s hit him and thrown his toys. He understands his sister isn’t like before, but he loves her nonetheless,” – Chikanna.
Even If I worked for 10 years just to save money for this, I still wouldn’t have even half of it!
Chikanna is a daily-wage labourer and earns no more than Rs. 8,000 a month. Till now, the family has spent a lakh, and are already neck-deep in debts. They are afraid they’ll never be able to afford it at all.“I have been doing all I can, but this sum is something I can never even dream of arranging. It is beyond us and we don’t know what to do! She aches to go back to school and we are aching her to see her smile again. Help us, please!” – Chikanna.
All they need now to save their little girl, is the one thing they don't have - Money. With your generous contribution, she can survive this deadly cancer.
