CSR and crowdfunding give a new life to Eight-year-old girl

Having suffered for years from chronic liver disease, Prabhgun needed an immediate liver transplant, which made her family knock the doors of Aster CMI Hospital, Bangalore.

Image credit: Pixabay (Representational image)

Amritsar: Crowdfunding and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) helped save the life of eight-year-old Gurdaspur resident Prabhgun, suffering from chronic liver disease since the age of four. Prabhgun’s doctor in Amritsar Dr Jagtesh Singh Sidhu had recommended a liver transplant, but the insurmountable cost, approximately Rs 20 lakh, proved to be a major hurdle in her quest for wellness though she found a donor in her own mother.

Consulting various other doctors did not help as well, while the lockdown further added to her woes, making her condition even worse. Having suffered for years, Prabhgun needed an immediate liver transplant, which made her family knock the doors of Aster CMI Hospital, Bangalore, where she underwent the transplant for Rs 5 lakh as against the actual cost of Rs 20 lakh.

Dr. Sonal Asthana, Lead Consultant - HPB and Liver Transplant Surgery, Aster CMI Hospital, Bangalore, said that Prabhgun underwent the transplant under Aster’s innovative Affordable Liver Transplant Initiative, which provides children and young adults from poor families Liver transplant at an affordable rate through corporate social responsibility and crowdfunding.

“Liver transplantation is well established as a viable treatment for children with end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Unlike the other transplant, the only challenging factor in Liver transplant is the huge cost involved in the surgery,” said Dr Asthana.

According to Dr Asthana, India has countless patients like Prabhgun who are unable to access life-saving surgery due to lack of funds.

“To provide affordable medical treatment and reduce the burden of liver transplantation cost in India, we have started the Affordable Liver Transplant Initiative, which is supported by several charities as well as by crowdfunding and has provided lifesaving transplants to more than 120 children and young adults at a cost less than Rs 5 lakh to the families. This Aster initiative is India’s largest such supported initiative,” Dr Asthana maintained.

Dr Ravinder Malhotra, a surgeon specializing in abdominal surgeries with Saravhit Gastro City, said that Prabhgun was doing well and eating normally. Talking about her liver problem, he said that such diseases are largely congenital and less likely to be diagnosed.

“However, Prabhgun was lucky to be diagnosed. Her family deserves its share of accolades as they did not deny her the treatment she needed, on account of being a girl child, but took her to Bangalore and contributed financially as much as they possibly could towards her surgery. The rest was raised through CSR and crowdfunding,” he said.