What you need to know
- Four-year-old Priyanshu suffers from a congenital heart defect and with each passing day the battle becomes harder to win.
- India’s netizens are doing everything possible to save him.
- His crowd funding page was started a year ago.
- The full amount is yet to be collected.
Dubai: India’s netizens are doing everything possible to save the four-year-old son of a daily wage earner from Madhya Pradesh.
Priyanshu, suffers from a congenital heart defect and with each passing day the battle becomes harder to win.
Diagnosed a few years’ ago, his father Sagar’s funds were quickly depleted in the treatment and many hospitals in India turned down the case because of its complexity and expense.
The boy has required hospitalisation for the larger part of his life because of his serious heart health issues.
Desperate for help, Sagar reached out to all avenues possible. A Good Samaritan helped connect him to the Boston Children’s Hospital, which agreed to the treatment. But, there was still a block - the cost of Rs22 million (Dh1.15 million) inclusive of surgery, recuperation, accommodation and airfare.
This was over a year ago.
A page was opened on the fund-raising website Ketto in 2017, to raise the amount required. In one year, the funding page was able to generate Rs6.2 million (approximately Dh325,000). However, this is not enough.
Gaurav Malhotra, a New Delhi-based social worker, who began the funding page on Ketto had formerly met with the principal secretary to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in 2017, who promised the last Rs1 million if the rest of the funding could be secured. So, this amount needs to be sourced quickly, since Priyanshu’s state is rapidly deteriorating with the onset of winter, according to the Develop India Foundation, who have pushed his case, again. It has now become the top trending story on Indian social media channels, with thousands of retweets.
Bollywood actors such as Abhishek Bachchan had supported the case earlier in 2017. So, tweeps have now started tagging celebrities globally, urging them to help Priyanshu.
@shilpajn tweeted: “@rihanna, this #Christmas, little Priyanshu needs prayers, miracles and funds to be able to get the complex surgery done. He has been a fighter so far. #SavePriyanshu https://www.gofundme.com/Save3yoPriyanshu” Twitter user @anushreevaidya posted: “@deepikapadukone Priyanshu suffers from a congenital heart defect and needs to be treated as soon as possible in Boston. The total amount needed to #SavePriyanshu is nearly 2.20 crores rupees. Please be the #Santa for him and save his life https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/SavePriyanshu”
@iamshilpooh tweeted: “4-year-old Priyanshu can’t have a Merry Christmas like you and me, his heart is giving up. But will you? #SavePriyanshu @BostonChildrens @MichelleObama @BarackObama @ObamaFoundation @OfficialSanta https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/SavePriyanshu”
Priyanshu’s father Sagar continues to do his part to raise funds by working part-time as a delivery agent with a pizza service in the city of Pune, where his family is based.
Some tweeps are now petitioning the new Congress-led government of Madhya Pradesh to step in.
Tweep @crowngaurav posted: “Around 3000 kind people have donated close to Rs 62 Lakh to #SavePriyanshu who cannot be treated in India and still need min Rs1.10 Crore for his life saving surgery. Please donate at http://ket.to/SavePriyanshu and sign petition to request @OfficeOfKNath at http://change.org/SavePriyanshu.”Priyanshu with his father, Sagar.
