Bravehearts of the Foundation: Baby of Priyanka
November 30, 2020 | Contributed by Arti Barwa
The birth of a child is one of the greatest celebrations that any family can experience. For Karan Kumar Verma and Priyanka Kumari, arrival of their daughter on 25th September, 2020 became the happiest moment of their lives. More so, because the family felt complete with their three-year-old son Preetul and now a daughter. Everyone, including the grandparents were delighted to welcome Baby of Priyanka into the world.
Weighing 2.7 kilograms, Baby of Priyanka was yet to be named. When she was only three days during one of the routine check-ups, the doctor informed Karan and Priyanka that their little angel had an abnormal heartbeat. Their daughter was immediately rushed to the critical care unit and for an Echo test. The test revealed that there was something wrong with the baby’s heart and the doctor recommended for Baby of Priyanka to be transferred to a private hospital in Ranchi for further diagnosis.
The mere mention of something not being okay with their daughter’s health, put both Karan and Priyanka under a lot of stress. Instead of being able to celebrate the joy of welcoming a daughter, they were pacing the corridors of a hospital. The Echo report revealed that Baby of Priyanka had Pulmonary Artesia, which is a critical duct dependent Congenital Heart Defect where the pathway to the lungs from the right ventricle is not fully developed. As a result of this defect, less blood flows to the lungs for purification and the saturation of the body is less. They were not prepared to believe that their daughter needed a heart surgery to be able to live.
Being the sole earner of the family, Karan was also financially unable to bear the total cost of the operation as he works at a local canteen and earning Rs 7,000 per month. Karan was distressed and extremely anxious about the situation. Feeling helpless in raising money for child surgery, he was losing hope with each passing day. Meanwhile, his son Preetul was struggling to cope with the addition of the new member in the family as both parents were paying attention only to his sister.
After a couple of days, one of Karan’s relatives suggested that they take their daughter to a hospital in Raipur, Chhattisgarh because they could treat her with a lesser cost. Without thinking twice Karan brought his daughter to Raipur for treatment, where his family was dismayed to learn that the full-time surgeon was out of town at the time.
Karan went back to Ranchi feelingdejected. By this time, Karan had nothing left with him as he had already spent over Rs 90,000 by just runningfrom pillar to post looking for the right doctor for his daughter’s surgery. Seeing Karan’s state, one of his relatives decided to explore the internet for NGOs raising money for child surgery. The whole family put a lot of faith in the Almighty and were waiting for their prayers to be answered.
Luckily, Karan’s relative found our Foundation online and reached out to us for financial aid. Immediately, we referred the case to one of our partner hospitals, i.e. Narayana Health, Kolkata. After reaching the hospital, a COVID-19 test was the first thing the baby underwent and unfortunately she was tested positive.
Post that, Baby of Priyanka had to be shifted to a Government Hospital in Kolkata where she was admitted and stabilized for couple of weeks. Then she was tested again after two weeks and by God’s grace she was tested negative this time. So, the family headed back to Narayana Health for their daughter’s treatment. Baby of Priyanka underwent a successful PDA Ductal Stenting on 2nd November 2020 with the help of our CSR partner- HDFC ERGO. In PDA Ductal Stenting, the PDA is kept open by placing a stent so that some amount of blood can flow to the lungs for purification and thereby the saturation of the body increases. The baby recovered slowly and was discharged after five days from the hospital.
After a very long time, her parents saw her without any tubes or attachments, having spent a long time since birth in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Baby of Priyanka is doing fine and living the normal life of a two-month old baby. Her brother has also adjusted to having a baby sister to play with.
Seeing the joy in rehabilitating families like Karan’s is what keeps us going as we continue our journey to savemore little hearts.
