CHENNAI: Cure isn’t the first word you think of when someone mentions cancer. For under privileged families, the term itself can send shivers down the spine and if one is diagnosed with cancer, it brings their world crashing down.
Imagine if it was for a child from an underprivileged background who has been diagnosed with cancer and the family can do little about it. Don’t worry. There is always a way to work around it, says Dr Priya Ramachandran, who runs the Ray of Light Foundation. It has launched a new initiative through which 60 children from our families who have cancer and related issues will be given free medication at the Kanchi Kamokoti Child Trust Hospital.
The 15-year-old foundation has so far treated 124 children and most of them from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The foundation spends nearly `5 lakh on a child’s treatment and with plenty of people donating, Dr Priya said that the foundation had been able to spend on more children. “I’ve seen so many families lose hope when they hear cancer. We need to give them hope that it can be overcome and we fight together. So many people die without proper treatment and that shouldn’t happen. Anyone who has cancer and can’t afford treatment are most welcome to approach us,” she said at the launch of the Children
Cancer Cure.
Cricketer Murali Vijay, the chief guest at the event, said he was happy to join the project. “These kids are the real heroes. They have showed ways to live through so much pain. I’ve just come on board and I would like to work more with the foundation,” he said.
Liver transplant surgeon Dr Mohammed Rela spoke on the importance of contributing to society through donations. “Cancer is curable and is worth investing on the treatment,” he said. At the end of the event, prizes were distributed to children who successfully fought cancer.