This 12-year-old wants to fight cancer to be a doctor. Your | Milaap

This 12-year-old wants to fight cancer to be a doctor. Your support can help her

Yukthashree is class 8 student of RT Nagar Public School. Ask her what she wants to be, she says, “Dr. Rasmi”. You can sense the immense conviction in her voice, “I want to become a doctor like her. I think every doctor treats their patients, but Dr. Rasmi becomes a part of their fight. Having known her for six months, she has been very encouraging every step of the way. When you lose your hair, lips get chapped and if you smell of medicines all the time, it's a struggle to be your true self and be positive. But Dr. Rasmi has makes sure I never give up on myself."

Yuktha, 12, is the elder daughter of Prema and Chandra. She claims her 2-year-old brother is a complete brat and she loves to read out stories to him. This family of four lives in a rented house in the by lanes of Ganganagar, Bangalore. Chandra is a sales executive at Pallavi Enterprises in Rajajinagar, earning a salary of 12,000 per month. Yuktha’s parents had a simple dream for her, to give her a childhood she deserves. “We have always stretched ourselves whenever our kids were involved. Be it books, clothes or their birthday gifts. But this year, it broke our heart to see Yuktha spend her birthday alone. She did not want to be seen by anyone. The last time I remember her being excited was for the Christmas celebrations last year; which eventually became her last day of school," Chandra recalls the day it all began.

"I got a call from the headmistress saying Yuktha has collapsed." 

On December 24, 2015, Yukta was running a mild fever. Yet, she insisted on going to school to be part of the Christmas celebrations. School was closing for winter holidays the following day. Little did she know that it might be her last day to school for a while.

“I got a call from the headmistress saying Yuktha has collapsed and they are taking her to the hospital. I can't explain why I got a sinking feeling in my chest. 'This isn't normal', I told myself.”, Prema’s eyes welled up recalling the day it all started. Lack of beds in Kidwai forced them to choose HCG. “We knew it was expensive but we want the best care for our daughter's life. She was hospitalised immediately and few hours later was taken for various scans. The fever was spiking and she remained in the hospital for next few days.” Tests confirmed that Yuktha was suffering from B-Cell ALL, an aggressive type of leukemia (blood cancer).  


Since then, Dr Rasmi became Yuktha’s guardian angel and her role model. “Her hemoglobin levels were low. So it took good two weeks to bring it back up with blood transfusions and diet. They cannot start chemo sessions with low RBC count. So we have been able to finish only two sessions so far. The treatment took a while to work. The initial month, she had become too weak to walk. She had to be carried around”, Chandra said. The first month of treatment costed them about Rs 6 lakhs. Each time she falls sick in between sessions, they need to spend about an additional 1-2 lakhs.


A single salary of 12,000 fights the multiplying bills 

Yuktha's father earns 12,000 a month. The couple has exhausted all their life savings and have managed to provide the treatment so far. With piled up bills worth Rs 11 lakhs, Chandra's sole salary struggles to make ends meet. Yuktha needs to be scheduled on next two chemo cycles immediately to aggressively treat the cancer.


How can you help? 

Yuktha's next session is scheduled to start to next Tuesday if her blood tests show good RBC counts.  She is just 12 and has her whole life ahead of her. "I cannot wait to go back to school. Prepare for the crucial years before the boards exams and pursue my doctor-dream." She is will be cured provided she gets the right treatment. But Chandra's salary cannot keep up the pace of this demanding treatment costs. It's not easy for a parent to see his child fight complications this grave. Your support will save his 12 year old daughter. Please contribute now and save Yuktha.

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