They Did It!: 65,000 Strangers Come Together To Get 16 Cr Medicine For 3-Year-Old Boy In Hyderabad
The young boy received the world's most expensive drug, Zolgensma, at a Hospital in Hyderabad after 62,450 strangers from social media contributed ? 14.84 crores with the help of crowd-funding.
Strangers on the internet have come together to save the life of a three-year-old boy in Hyderabad by getting him an injection worth Rs 16 crore to treat a rare genetic disorder.
The young boy, Ayaansh Gupta received the world's most expensive drug Zolgensma, a single-dose intravenous injection, on Wednesday, at the Rainbow Hospital in Hyderabad after 62,450 strangers from social media contributed ? 14.84 crores with the help of crowd-funding.
His parents, Rupal and Yogesh, had been in the line for more than two years to get the treatment for him after he was diagnosed with a progressive neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
TOI
The couple was able to raise most of the money through the crowd-funding platform ImpactGuru in around four months.
His father, Yogesh, thanked the donors and doctors for making the treatment possible.
"Thank you so much... thanks to around 65,000 donors who came forward to donate and saved Ayaansh. We are very happy that we finally got this medicine for which we were waiting since a long time. This can change the life of Ayaansh... so we are very, very happy," he said.
WE DID IT!!!
¡ª AyaanshFightsSMA (@FightsSma) May 23, 2021
Never thought that this arduous journey we set on to #saveayaanshgupta would culminate this beautifully. Happy to announce tht we have reachd ?16 Cr. needed to get #Zolgensma for #Ayaansh. A big thank you to every person who supported us. This is your victory.???? pic.twitter.com/n0mVl1BvGv
He added that he and his wife had a hard time after their son was diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder just a few months after being born. His hands and legs were weak and he was unable to stand or sit without help.
A person diagnosed with the rare disorder is unable to control the movement of muscles due to loss of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain stem. It is treated with the help of very expensive gene therapy.
Initially, he was put him on the waiting list of pharma companies that sponsor the treatment of children with the rare disorder. However, it did not work out for them which led to crowd-funding.
According to Dr Ramesh Konanki, who administered the gene therapy, this would arrest the disease and Ayaansh could hope to achieve new growth milestones from now on.
"There are 800-900 people living with this (disorder). Three to four times that number of children with the disease die by the age of two. For Ayaansh, we managed to get crowdfunding in about four months' time, and we are very happy," he said.
@NakuulMehta @JANK_EE - you joined this Campaign when we were literally stuck and struggling because funds were slow. We weren't sure if we would reach past a decent figure by Ayaansh's birthday. But your support helped turn tables. Can't express how thankful we are.? pic.twitter.com/YU38ZSsPvy
¡ª AyaanshFightsSMA (@FightsSma) May 23, 2021
Kindness saves another life!
