RANCHI: Jharkhand's Dilip Yadav, who had hit the headlines a few months ago for pedalling 400 km every month for blood transfusion of his five-and-a-half years old son Vivek, who suffers from thalassemia, finally found a messiah.
Thanks to Pankaj Kumar Maharaj, director of Newslions Media, Vivek's bone marrow transplant has successfully been done and he is currently under observation in Bangalore. This was made possible by Maharaj, who read media reports about the plight of Yadav, a daily-wager, and travelled all the way to Godda to facilitate the boy's treatment.
Earlier, The New Indian Express had highlighted the sufferings of Yadav.
Maharaj (in pic with Vivek) decided to help Yadav get his son treated free of cost at Aster CMI Hospital in Bangalore. The matter was referred to Milaap, a crowd-funding platform that raises funds online for medical emergencies for the poor and needy and other social causes.
Flight tickets for all six members of Yadav’s family, including his four children, were arranged so that they could come to Bangalore and get the bone marrow transplanted. "The transplant of my son was done on February 28 and he is likely to be discharged by Saturday," said Yadav.
"The commitment done by Newslions Media has been fulfilled, otherwise it would not have been possible for me to arrange such a huge amount for my son's treatment. They have been providing all facilities, right from lodging to medical needs, for the last three-four months," he added.
Since no match was found in his family, a donor for the bone marrow transplant was arranged by a registry known as Datri, Maharaj said. Vivek will be kept under observation for next six months in Bengaluru.
Transplant cost through Crowd-funding
"Free treatment of Vivek, costing around rs 20 lakh, was arranged by Bengaluru-based crowd-funding organisation 'Milaap' which came forward to help him out after the media reported Yadav's ordeal, but all other facilities are being provided by us," said Maharaj.