Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been making contributions to help people during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Besides making donations towards the PM-CARES Fund and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (Maharashtra), Tendulkar has been partnering with various NGOs and hospitals to help underprivileged people.
In his latest initiative, the 47-year-old partnered with SRCC Children’s Hospital in Mumbai to help underprivileged children.
Three months ago, a 14-year-old boy had acute transverse myelitis. He was unable to walk and had to spend about 12 hours on the road as he was refused admission by most of the hospitals for fear of COVID-19.
The boy spent 12 hours without any food and water until he reached SRCC Children’s Hospital run by Narayana Health. After spending two months at the hospital for treatment, he can now walk slowly and is keen on getting back to his studies.
Another two-year-old boy was diagnosed with a liver tumour. The family struggled to arrange for finances for the treatment. He was then admitted to the hospital, and post-operation, remained in intensive on ventilator support.
The parents of several such children, who are recovering, have expressed their gratitude to Tendulkar.
“He is slowly back on his feet after having spent over two months at the SRCC, It will take a while for him to get back to normal since he was suffering from paralysis but we are happy at this progress,” said the 14-year-old’s mother.
“We would like to thank SRCC and Sachin sir for helping us with the finances as it was difficult with my husband’s income to meet the expenses.”
“We have no words for the kind of support given by Sachin sir. We learnt it later that he was the one behind in giving us all the financial help. We are totally indebted to Sachin sir as we had once upon a time given up for lack of finances”, said the two-year-old’s father.
Speaking about the association, Dr Soonu Udani, Medical Director of SRCC Children’s Hospital, said: “Sachin Tendulkar through his foundation has been a Godsend to us. Just like us, they are equally passionate about children’s healthcare. This partnership is an ever-evolving partnership. They understand what we are doing and the extent of support they have given has been a tremendous help to us.”
