Little Indian Royal Kumar was born with hydrocephalus (dropsy of the brain), making his head three times the volume of a normal head due to the accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricular system of the brain. Due to the pressure on his brain, Royal often had bouts of sleepiness and nausea.
The parents immediately abandoned the sick baby in the hospital, but he was lucky and other relatives took him in and decided to try to help him. Prabha Devi and her husband Rajendra Prasad have already spent all their savings on treating the baby.
“The neighbors were surprised at my decision,” says Prabha Devi. “They asked why I took him, knowing that he was seriously ill. And I answered them that he is also a man and he will die without my help. He is now like my own child, I will do everything to save him.
He is already considered a member of our family and I sold all my gold jewelry for him. I have two more children and I do not distinguish between them, they are all my family.
The family has already spent 200 thousand rupees (about 3 thousand dollars), but this has not led to significant progress in treatment. Doctors previously gave the baby bypass surgery to drain fluid and reduce pressure, but it did not work.
Royal had another chance of recovery last week when he got a new shunt. Neurosurgeon Chandra Bhushan Sahai said that the child had a neglected case and therefore performed the operation for free.
- The old shunt stopped working because it was blocked and we put in a new one. The boy was vomiting and drowsy when he arrived at our place, but after the operation his health improved. In his condition, the mortality rate is very high and every chance, even a weak one, must be used.
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