Nibash had low pressure problems for a while but he’d drink some salt water and not take it too seriously. In December last year, when it became too much and Nibash got too tired, he saw a doctor. The blood platelet count was found to be 8,000 where a minimum of 1.5 lakh was needed, and the Hb level was six, where he needed 14. More tests revealed that Nibash KB, a 26-year-old Thrissur native, has Aplastic Anaemia.
“It is a condition where the required blood cell count is not produced in the bone marrow. So he needs a bone marrow transplant most urgently,” says Dr Shinu Syamalan, who had been to Nibash’s house to see him. He lives in a rented house in Arimpoor, with his aged parents. Their home was swept away in the merciless floods of last August. “The panchayat helped with funds to build a new house. It is while the house building was happening that Nibash became so ill,” Dr Shinu says.
Nibash was previously working at an ice-cream distribution place in Olarikara. “I can’t work anymore, living on medicines and having been advised complete rest,” he says. His mother Kanchana too has a lung-related disease and can’t go to work. The family lives on the little income that his elderly father makes out of stitching clothes for people.
Nibash had not told his parents or friends about his condition till one day his nose and mouth began to bleed. “That was in January,” he says. Dr Shinu says that a biopsy was done on him, and while it revealed he didn’t have cancer, Nibash’s condition was just as critical.
Nibash had one urgent transfusion on the day he went to Amritha Hospital for his tests and was admitted there for five days. His platelet count is now 27000 and the Hb level is 7.5. For the transplant, he will need Rs 15 lakh, and for other hospital expenses another Rs 20 lakh. He has not been able to find a donor yet.
“The panchayat has set up a bank account in my name, and they have collected Rs 8.5 lakh,” Nibash says. The sooner the transplant is done, the better the chances are of saving him, Dr Shinu adds.
If you’d like to help Nibash, here are his account details:
Account number: 0437053000047199
IFSC: SIBL0000437
Phone: +919961345402