“She is our bundle of joy. She is our first child and the first month with her was very happy! Every sound she made was so sweet. Everything has changed now.”Srihitha Reddy is a 1-year-old girl with a severe liver disease. Her family was shattered when they learned that their small baby was very sick. Her life is hanging by a thin thread of hope now and she needs an urgent transplant to survive.
Srihitha used to cry in pain all day
When Srihitha was a month old, her skin and eyes started turning yellow and she got a fever. She would cry all day and her parents, Praveen and Anusha, did not understand what was wrong with their newborn. She was initially prescribed medicines, but when that didn’t work, she was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia - a liver disease in which one or more bile ducts are abnormally narrow, blocked, or absent.
She had a Kasai surgery, but it did not make her condition better. She seemed to recover, but soon, her condition worsened again. In the next couple of months, her parents took her to the doctor again. They were told that a liver transplant was the only option left for Srihitha.
Srihitha needs constant medication and injections, to keep her stable. But it’s not improving her condition. Her mother Anusha is a good match for a liver donor, and the only thing the family needs is the funds to get the transplant.
Financial crunch is making them helpless in the face of the situation
“She always has a fever and keeps crying. It’s hard to see our only child suffering like this.”Praveen works as a typist at a small private institute and makes Rs 10,000 a month. His entire family, including his parents, is financially dependent on him and his younger brother. His younger brother works for a chit fund company and is not financially sound either.
Anusha breaks down every time baby Srihitha is in too much pain. Nothing is more painful for a first-time mother than to see her child fight for her life so miserable. The entire family is barely able to hold it together.
The household finances are being managed by Srihitha’s uncle and Praveen is trying to desperately pool in funds for the treatment. So far, they have spent Rs 4 lakh on treatment and the first surgery. They have been borrowing from their friends and relatives till now. But the transplant cost is so high, that it is not an option anymore.
“Srihitha’s condition is worsening every day and if the surgery is not done immediately, we may lose her.”Srihitha’s father chokes up every time he mentions her. It is inexplicably hard to imagine his state of mind. Losing your child to an illness because of not having the money is a truly helpless situation and no parent should ever have to go through that.
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