Dilip Yadav, aged 40, has been provided with financial aid as his five-and-a-half-years old thalassemic son will be given free treatment at Aster Hospital in Bangalore. This financial assistance was made possible by the Bengaluru-based crowdfunding organization ‘Milaap’ which stepped up for Yadav after media reported that Dilip Yadav pedalled 400 Kilometers every month for medical treatment for his thalassemia son Vivek.
The media report published in “The Sunday Standard” portrayed the sufferings of Dilip Yadav as a daily bread earner in Jharkhand’s Godda district who has to cycle 400 km every month as traveling in a taxi is beyond his reach in the covid-19 lockdown. Pankaj Maharaj, the media reporter, went to Godda to gather detailed information about Dilip Yadav.
Maharaj said, “After checking the ground reality and assessing the facts published in media, we decided to help Dilip Yadav to get his son treated free of cost at Aster Hospital in Bangalore. After the assessment, it was found that bone marrow transplant for his son will incur a total cost of Rs 18-20 lakh, which will completely be borne by Milaap.”
Meanwhile, Maharaj added that flight tickets have been booked for all the six members of Yadav’s family, including his four children, and sent to them so they could visit Bengaluru to get their bone marrow tested. If it gets matched with any members, then Vivek will be transplanted with that bone marrow.
Furthermore, Maharaj praised the work of the media that highlighted the sufferings of Dilip Yadav through their writings which helped bring out his issue in front of the society and under public attention. It resulted in the matter coming to notice of Milaap, which came forward to help Yadav for free treatment of his son Vivek.
As per Maharaj’s statement, Milaap is a crowdfunding organization that raises funds to aid medical emergencies of impoverished people and other social causes. In Milaap, more than 150 members work to raise funds as and when required to assist anyone. Subsequently, Dilip Yadav with his wife Rekha Devi, son Vivek and three daughters Sugam Kumari, Priya Kumari, and Sumitra Kumari arrived in Bengaluru on July 21 for giving their blood samples for testing.
Dilip Yadav said, “I had lost all hope but, after coming into contact with Milaap, I am quite hopeful that my son’s life will be saved. They are doing their best for my child for which, I am grateful to them.” He further stated, “The process of testing blood samples is ongoing and eventually bone marrow will be transplanted here at Aster Hospital in Bengaluru.”
It is noteworthy that Dilip Yadav had to make four trips on his bicycle- once each to Dumka and Deoghar last year respectively and twice to Jamtara this year. Previously, Vivek was treated at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi where he was provided free blood but after the lockdown was imposed, they had to return back this year.
Earlier, Yadav went to Jamtara with his son on May 25 and returned back on May 31 on his bicycle after getting 2 units of blood infused. Again, in April, he traveled to Jamtara that almost took two days to cover 200 kilometers on his bicycle.
