Jayakishan’s house was filled with laughter and joy on April 24, 2019. It was Jayakishan’s 8th birthday and he had invited all his friends. His gift from his parents was a piano that he had wanted for a long time. His father Prabhakaran, who works as a manual labourer, earns very little, but had been saving up for months to get his son the gift. But that was the last day of happiness in their life. Soon after, Jayakishan was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and now he needs Rs. 15 lakhs for chemotherapy.
Things changed the day the parents got a call from his school. “The teacher said that Jayakishan had high fever and fainted. I panicked and rushed to his school. He had collapsed because of weakness and fever. I got him back home and gave him a few medicines, but even after a couple of days, his temperature just kept rising and his skin turned pale,” his mother Premalatha recounts. He was soon taken to the hospital.
“Jayakishan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL-B-cell), a type of blood cancer,” Premalatha recounts, “The doctors words shattered our happiness in an instance. All we knew about cancer was that it kills people. The doctors told us that his disease can be cured with multiple rounds of chemotherapy, but it would cost a lot of money.”
Ever since Jayakishan’s disease has been diagnosed, Prabakaran hasn’t taken a day off from work. He works multiple shifts just to be able to fund his treatment. “He doesn’t even get much time to spend with his son. All we need right now is his well-being, but his health is only deteriorating with each day. He hardly smiles now and just lays on his bed quietly,” Premalatha says.
Doctors say that Jayakishan needs intensive chemotherapy for six months followed by 2.5 years of maintenance chemotherapy. His treatment will cost Rs 15 lakh. “Over the span of three months, we have already taken high-interest loans and borrowed money from our friends and relatives. But the hospital bills are only mounting with each day and we are unable to pay off that as well,” Prabakaran says.
“We will lose our son if he doesn’t get chemotherapy urgently. We have exhausted all our funds and have no way to fund his treatment any further. We desperately need your help to save our dying child. Please help us,” Premalatha says.
