For most parents, having a child is equivalent to a blessing and becoming a parent is usually a welcomed and much-celebrated event. But in some cases, parents’ lives are fraught with problems and uncertainty regarding their ability to ensure their child’s physical and emotional well-being.
Hailing from Haryana, eleven-year-old Mohammad Samad is the second born child to Rubina Begam and Ragib. The couple’s elder son, Aman, who is now twelve years old was over joyed to see his younger baby brother or rather a new partner for playing.
But as they say, nobody can see what lies ahead in the future.
It was at six months of age that Samad was evaluated at a local hospital for developing recurring cold and cough. He was kept under the continuous supervision of the treating doctor for almost another six months. Time passed, but there was no improvement in Samad’s condition. Later, he also developed breathlessness. Both, Rubina and Ragib were informed by the local doctor that they should take their son to a bigger hospital for check-up.
The whole family was affected by this news. Their excitement of having a second child was replaced with fear and anxiety. The parents who were looking forward to the happiness of the birth of their second baby suddenly had their joy of impending parenthood turned upside down. It was hard on Rubina to see her son in his poor health condition. As time passed, Samad and his elder brother, Aman started going to a government school.
Rubina is a tailor by profession and Ragib works as a labourer. They both were working hard for their family to complete their children’s needs. The stress of their children’s health, education and future affected Rubina and Ragib’s relationship as well. Ragib gave up as he could not take care of his family anymore and distanced himself from them.
Poor Rubina had to take care of her chronically ill child all by herself when her husband abandoned her and both his children. Rubina felt that taking care of her chronically ill child as a single parent became one of the most draining and difficult tasks in her life. Beyond handling physical challenges and medical needs, Rubina had to deal with her child's emotional needs too. No matter how many smiles she forced and how many hugs she got- Rubina had an ocean of fear constantly beating her down inside.
Rubina with her son Samad
At some point, Rubina felt guilty and wrongly blamed herself for the situation. She was surrounded with depression, anxiety and hopelessness. To bring her out of the spiral she was going down, Rubina’s mother advised her to come to live with her.
In 2016, Rubina with her sons shifted back to her mother’s home at Nahan, Himachal Pradesh. Samad and Aman joined a nearby school at Nahan in 6th standard and 7th standard respectively, in a government school. Rubina also started working for a tailoring job where she earned Rs 4,000 per month.
With the help of her mother’s support, Rubina showed her son Samad at a private clinic in Chandigarh last year but the doctor there was unable to diagnose Samad’s condition properly. Rubina had to return back home hopeless. Later this year in September 2020, Rubina showed her son at a private hospital in Nahan. The treating doctor detected a murmur in Samad’s heart and also conducted an Echocardiography for a detailed evaluation. It was found that Samad was diagnosed with Ventricular Septal Defect, a Congenital heart Disease where there is a hole in between the lower chambers of the heart. Fortunately, the hole had good margins hence a device closure of the same was required.
Since the procedure cost was too high for Rubina to bear, she needed some time to gather the money required for her son’s treatment. She started saving money for Samad’s treatment, but she always had a fear in her heart, and she kept on asking herself- will she able to arrange the money in a timely manner for such high-cost procedure with an earning of just Rs 4,000? She had no answer to this, she was depressed as she could not see the pain of her son anymore and wanted to treat her son soon and see him in a healthy condition like other children of his age.
The treating doctor at Nahan suggested Rubina to take her son to Max Hospital in Delhi. She brought her child to Max Hospital where an Echo confirmed the diagnosis. Since Rubina was not in a position to bear the entire cost of the procedure so she looked for a heart Foundation, India that could support her. Later she surrendered her concerns to the doctor at Max Hospital as well who approached Genesis Foundation for financial aid. Through their CSR collaboration with WPP India CSR Foundation, the required financial help was provided. Samad underwent a successful device closure of VSD on 25th November 2020 and he was discharged after two days in a stable condition.
Samad is doing fine now and he is an active young boy who likes to run and play without any fear of deteriorating health. Rubina thanks the Almighty and she is happy to see her son growing healthy after the hardship she faced. She expressed immense gratitude to Genesis Foundation and wished there were more heart Foundation, India to support families from low-income backgrounds.
-Contributed by Arti Barwa
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