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Jitendra and Savita gave birth to their beautiful baby boy in February 2020. The pandemic peaked right after and so instead of enjoying their moments, these young parents were terrified. All they wanted was to protect and keep their baby safe.
"We took care of every little thing. This dilapidated shed is our home now, but still we made sure that our baby was kept warm always. But still he would cry in so much pain, sometimes losing his consciousness. When white patches appeared on his body, we were terrified our baby got COVID-19. After getting his tests done, we found out that it's not this virus but a lifelong blood disorder, thalassemia, that is threatening his life. We couldn't protect him despite all the precautions…" - Jitendra, father
They were naive to assume this blood disorder will cure in a few weeks
Savita and Jitendra had never heard of this disease before and broke down after learning that their baby could now only survive on frequent blood transfusions. As he grows, his monthly transfusions would turn into weekly ones because his body is failing to produce healthy blood on its own."We were so naive to think that in one or two transfusions, our baby would be cured of this condition. But it's been 2 years now and I've seen him suffer every day. He can't run or play like the other kids here, and is too young to understand the gravity of the situation right now. He can only get a normal life with a transplant but we don't have 37 lakhs for it. Just thinking about the future of my baby… I can't hold back my tears."- Savita, mother
He bruised his head and fell down because of a sudden blackout
Amidst the pandemic, these parents were running around with their baby to ensure he got his transfusions. They were scared, and if the ever delayed his transfusion a even a day, there were severe repercussions on their baby's health."For every transfusion, we incur around Rs.15,000 of expenses on just tests, the process and medicines. I toil on a very small field, so I'm unable to arrange such a huge sum towards the end of every month. There have been stressful situations where we couldn't take him to the hospital at the mentioned date. On one occassion, because of his dangerously low blood counts, my son lost his balance while walking and injured his head severely. He lost a lot of blood and had to be rushed into emergency. I still shiver at the thought of almost losing him that day." - Jitendra, father
Coping with his father's demise and his own son's disease has been tough on Jitendra
The last two years have been emotionally challenging for this family. First, Jitendra lost his father to COVID-19, and now his son is battling thalassemia. He didn't even have enough time to grieve the loss of his beloved father. Being the sole breadwinner of the family, there were responsibilities on his shoulders that he needed to fulfill. That's when he sold his house and moved to a shed to support his family but it is still not enough to support their baby's bone marrow transplant procedure."I wish I could have been a son who could cry and express my pain of losing my support system, my father, but I had to play the role of a father first and be strong to support my son. I miss him immensely but now I'm struggling to be as good a father as he was to me. I feel like I've let down my late father for being unable to fend for my son's transplant." - Jitendra, father
Please click here to help these young parents save their baby from thalassemia with a transplant.
Identity of the child is protected in adherence to government guidelines.
