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“My baby girl is only 8 months old, but she has suffered enough for a lifetime. She cries all the time now – even when her weak little body does not have enough energy for it. The swelling in her stomach is causing her that much pain. She cannot sit up or even lay on her side. I cannot bear to see her suffering.” - Muthulakshmi, mother.
Baby Vishaha is suffering from hepatoblastoma, a rare and cancerous tumour that originates in the cells in the liver. In order to beat this deadly disease, she will need a total of 6 cycles of chemotherapy, along with a surgery.
“We still cannot believe that such a small baby has cancer. Nobody in our family ever had cancer. God could have given it to me instead. Why did our innocent baby have to go through this?” asks Manimaran, as tears flow freely down his face.
‘We have already lost a child… we've been through this pain before’
Last month, Baby Vishaha was having breathing troubles for many nights altogether. Her mother, Muthulakshmi, noticed that she even looked like she was suffocating. She also realised that her tummy had swelled up slightly, like there was something inside that was causing it to bulge outwards.
These panic-stricken parents rushed their baby daughter to a local hospital in their hometown of Madurai soon, where they were asked to take her to Chennai immediately. It was in Chennai that the Vishaha was diagnosed with this deadly disease.
“Memories of 2020 are coming back to us. We had lost our first child that year – just a few days after birth. The pandemic was also at its peak, and it was an overall bad time for us. Vishaha’s birth gave us happiness like never before. But now, knowing that we can lose her as well has left us with an unexplainable fear and sleeplessness.” - Manimaran.
This poor labourer is running out of time and money to save his baby
Manimaran is a daily wage labourer and the sole earning member of his family. Muthulakshmi is a housewife, who is completely devoted to taking care of and raising her child Vishaha.As with all daily wagers, Manimaran was never able to save enough money for the future. Whatever he got was never enough for the present. But now, with his daughter getting cancer, he finds himself in a very difficult position – both mentally and financially.
“I never cared about money. My wife and I were happy with whatever little we had. We did not have many wishes or hopes in life. But saving my daughter is something I cannot compromise on… I want her to live at any cost. But I do not have the means to save her either.” - Manimaran.
He has already borrowed INR 2 lakhs from friends and family and cannot ask them for more. He needs your urgent help to save his baby girl. Click here to contribute
