Poor Sweeper Struggles To Save 4-Month-Old From Severe Heart Disease

From being born into abject poverty to going to work in the wee hours of the morning and sweeping dusty roads until late night, Shiv Prasad has always lived a difficult life. But he never complained and worked hard to earn his daily bread. New promise came into his life when he got married recently. He was overjoyed when he became a father not so long afterwards, but before he could soak in the happiness, his baby boy was diagnosed with a severe heart disease. The baby needs an urgent surgery to survive, but Shiv has not been able to arrange even half the money required for it yet and is struggling.

Baby Veer cannot breathe or feed properly, is struggling to survive every minute

Shiv Prasad and his wife Jan Kumari aptly named their son ‘Veer’, as he has been bravely fighting the odds right from his birth. He was born underweight and looked so weak from the beginning that Shiv remembers asking the doctor if there was something wrong with his son. At that point, the doctors at the government hospital in Jaipur where the child was born assured the worried father that there was nothing wrong. Shiv and Jan Kumari took their bundle of joy home, but he started having breathing troubles after just 13 days. They had to take him to many hospitals before he was diagnosed with Pulmonary Atresia, a severe heart disease where the pulmonary valve (the opening on the right side of the heart that pumps blood from the heart to the lungs for oxygenation) is poorly formed. This results in very low levels of oxygen in the body.

“My poor baby can only drink milk in very low quantities at 2–minute intervals. I can see that he is hungry and wants to drink more, but his rapid breathing does not allow it. He is always irritable and cries all night – no medicines are helping him,”- Jan Kumari, mother.

Reeling in poverty and completely helpless, Shiv Prasad is struggling to save his baby boy

Shiv Prasad belongs to a small village in Nepal, but has been living in Jaipur for the past 20 years. He and his wife do not have any relatives in India, and nobody to console them in these times of distress. Working as a sweeper in an office in Jaipur, he only makes Rs 6,500 a month, out of which he has to pay Rs 5,500 as rent for the small room his family stays in now. He is left with only a meagre Rs 1,000 for food itself; his son’s surgery costing more than Rs 1 lakh is completely out of his reach.

“The doctors have told us that Veer has only a few days left for the surgery, without which his condition can worsen, resulting in even heart failure. I dread thinking about that, but with no money I am helpless,”-Shiv.

How you can help

Baby Veer is suffering from a severe heart disease, for which the only treatment is an urgent surgery. His poor father cannot afford it on his sweeper’s salary, he needs your help to save his only child.

Veer can grow up to be a healthy and normal baby with your help

Supporting document

The specifics of this case have been verified by the medical team at the concerned hospital. For any clarification on the treatment or associated costs, contact the campaign organizer or the medical team.   

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