Triumph of humanity as donors make light of Rs 75 lakh target needed for bone marrow transplant procedure

As true to the saying of elders, Fayaz Madoor proved to be an angel of God by motivating all and sundry on social media to contribute Rs 75 lakh within 15 hours to save the life of my cancer-stricken five year-old daughter, informs the father Hiranyaksha with a choked voice over the phone.

"With the money secure in my account, we have gone ahead with the bone marrow transplantation procedure for my daughter," says Hiranyaksha who got his daughter admitted to Narayana Health in Bengaluru on Wednesday. "In May 2024 my daughter was diagnosed as suffering from cancer," recollected Hiranyaksha from Karpe village in Bantwal taluk. The diagnosis came as a shock to Hiranyaksha who was eking a living by serving as priest.

Hiranyaksha's daughter suffered from Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Chief of Paediatric Haemato Oncology division, KMC Attavar, Dr Harsha Prasad told DH when contacted. AML is seen in 20 per cent of blood cancers in children. The child responded well during the treatment from May to November, 2024. Soon the child suffered a cancer relapse. "All cancer relapses need bone marrow transplantation for long term cure," Dr Harsha stressed.

Now the child is undergoing `re-induction chemotherapy' in order to bring down the high white blood cell count and proceed with bone marrow transplant at Narayan Health, Dr Harsha said. Hiranyaksha's wife Sowmya recollected that residents in their village had pooled money to meet the hospitalisation expenses. Hiranyaksha said he tried to raise money from social media but succeeded in raising a few lakhs.

In sheer desperation, Hiranyaksha sought the help of social worker Fayaz Madoor who had been raising money to meet hospitalisation expenses of poor people. Fayaz told DH that he shot a video of the child and shared it with his groups on social media at about 6 pm on June 30. By daybreak, the target of Rs 75 lakh was achieved. The child's video struck a chord and thus from a daily wager to a NRI, everyone donated generously," emphasises Fayaz.

Hiranyaksha says he was speechless as donors without looking into which religion or caste he belonged to had donated with the sole intention of saving his child. Gafoor Madoor, a resident of Karpe village, says Fayaz is just not an angle only to Hiranyaksha but to many. In the past five years, Fayaz has motivated members in over 100 WhatsApp groups to donate a total amount of Rs 25 cr, he said.