The birth of a child should be a joyous occasion, a memorable day to a family. Where parents make wishes and create hopes for the future of their child. They hope and pray to God that their child will grow up healthy, and they imagine feeling proud as they see their child take their first steps. Such an impeccable day came to the life of Shiva’s parents when Shiva took birth. Shiva’s mother was a devotee of Lord Shiva and hence she named her child after the creator of the universe, but the smile and joy didn’t last long for Shiva’s parents. Soon they discovered that there is something wrong with little Shiva. He was not responding in the way he was supposed to. They consulted the doctors regarding his untypical behaviour. The calmness before the storm is always dreadful and the same prevailed in this case. It turned out that Shiva has brain damage at the time of his birth.
Shiva is now 1 year, battling “Brain Atrophy” (involvement of Lissencephaly and Corpus Callosum Agenesis) and Optic Nerve Atrophy (eye vision lost) it means neither he can see nor his brain functions enough to perform any activity. No one can ever imagine what a nightmare it would have been when his family came to know about his disabilities after 1-2 months of his birth. Image a day without doing basic things on your own? Can’t even think of something close, right? We cannot even sense what Shiva is going through. He cannot sit, unable to see anything but he responds to light which is like a ray of hope to his parents that one day he might be able to see the world around him. There are other complications too such as he can’t control his neck, his brain development is significantly slow, there are other cognitive issues and even deformity in his both lower legs that need hip straightening surgery.
Shiva’s family belongs to an economically weaker section of society. His father is a driver with a monthly income of 10,000 rupees which is not even sufficient to keep up with the family's basic expenses. Shiva and his parents are residents of Agra, Uttar Pradesh. His parents have tried everything but nothing seems to be working, Shiva’s condition is still as bad.
After consulting doctors and having all the medical help they admitted Shiva to a private hospital. The doctors have recommended an advanced Stem cell treatment and it looks like the only hope now. Stem cell treatment can regenerate damaged cells of the brain and can improve Shiva’s physical growth conditions. Above all, Stem cell treatment can restore his vision. He will also have to go through certain surgeries to resolve lower leg deformities. All these treatments are going to cost around 35 lakhs rupees, it’s a huge amount of money and Shiva’s parents can’t afford it. They’ve already lost everything they had. They are now reaching out to all those people who can help them save their son’s life. A little contribution of yours can make a huge difference to his life. Please help to save their only child.