All of four, Lavanya Jaqtab has spent more than half her life in and out of hospitals. Yet the tot's first question to her parents after being discharged from Wadia Hospital recently was, "Where has all my hair gone?" Lavanya, who was born to her parents after six years of marriage, has been diagnosed with the extremely rare autoimmune disorder — Griscelli syndrome — which has a very high mortality rate. Her devastated parents are now praying for a miracle after doctors have zeroed-in on a bone marrow donor who could possibly save her life.

While the complications started when Lavanya was two and a half years old, the family from Aurangabad found out about her condition following a brain biopsy in Mumbai on June 15. The doctors confirmed she is suffering from Griscelli syndrome (GS) subtype-2 with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) that resulted in immunodeficiency. She needs a bone marrow transplant — a treatment with success rate as good as ninety percent, said a doctor. The doctors discharged Lavanya on June 16 and, in the meanwhile, they are counselling a donor who has come forward to help the little girl.