Less than a week after Mid DAY wrote about eight-year-old Rachita Palsamkar's battle with the life-threatening Acute Aplastic Anemia, help has poured in from hundreds of readers across Mumbai and Pune. Her father, a contract labourer who had gone bankrupt trying to save his daughter, has already received R2 lakh. But doctors at Bombay Hospital have pegged the minimum cost for her treatment at Rs 6 lakh. Rachita's parents now hope more citizens will come forward to help
Doctors at the Bombay Hospital on Saturday have finally initiated treatment of an eight-year-old girl who is suffering from the life-threatening condition of Acute Aplastic Anemia. So far, hundreds of Mumbaiites have raised Rs 2 lakh for her treatment, following a MiD DAY report on February 23.
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Mid Day had reported about Rachita and how her father, a contract labourer, had run out of his life savings in an attempt to save his daughter.
Rachita Palsamkar (extreme left) was diagnosed with life-threatening Acute Aplastic Anemia three months ago.u00a0
Rachita Palsamkar, studying in the third grade, has been unable to go to school for over two months. She requires a minimum of Rs 6 lakh for the extremely expensive injections needed to save her. Her father Jairam Palsamkar had approached several trusts for help but is yet to receive any response from them.
However, on Saturday, an emotional Palsamkar told SMD that several individuals from across the city have approached the family and donated money for the child’s treatment after reading about her condition.
“The doctors have given us a minimum estimate of Rs 6 lakh as the total expense,” he said. When contacted, Dr Shraddha Thakkar, MD Paediatrics, Bombay hospital, who is treating Rachita, said, “The girl is suffering from a condition wherein there is a complete failure of bone marrow production. We have started her on ATG therapy which has a 70-80 per cent success rate in conditions of aplastic anemia.”
Dr Thakkar confirmed that the injections are very expensive and cost around Rs 9,000 each. The total cost of the injections would be over Rs 1 lakh. The rest of the therapy will cost an additional Rs 3 lakh at the least.
The story was published in MiD DAY on February 23
There’s hope
But now, Jairam sees a ray of hope. “Yesterday I was asked to bring 5 injections costing near Rs 50,000 and I have already spent over Rs 20,000 for her daily medication. I am really thankful to so many strangers, who, after reading or hearing about my daughter’s condition, visited the hospital and paid up at
the counter.”
Rachita’s condition was discovered a few months ago, when the Palsamkar’s took their daughter to a local doctor after she developed bluish patches all over her body. What the family believed to be mere rashes turned out to be a life-threatening ailment. After admitting their daughter to B J Wadia hospital for Children, they struggled to raise funds for her treatment. After a bone marrow histopathology test confirmed she was suffering from acute aplastic bone marrow, she was transferred to Bombay Hospital. u00a0
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