Tears rolled down Soumya’s cheeks. She stopped speaking. “Every needle prick of hers feels like a knife striking my heart.”
She was talking about her daughter, Aganya and tells why so much of these children’s early lives had to hurt. There should have been play and discovery. Instead, there were transfusions to return for. At another hospital, the family had seen a young woman with thalassemia die at 25. That loss stayed with them. They wanted Aganya to grow into a woman with dreams and choices of her own.
Frightened of transplant, they found reassurance in Sankalp’s counselling and care. Soumya herself became the donor. The mother who had given Aganya life was giving her another chance to live it. At the time of our conversation, Aganya was 48 days post-transplant and receiving follow-up care in Bengaluru.
“Our lives have changed for the better,” Soumya said. She had cried remembering the pain. Now, watching her daughter recover, she could hope for years of simply being her mother, watching her grow!