. Although the treatment did not use cord blood, the decision of the parents to enroll in a Community cord blood stem cell bank covered all the stem cell transplant related costs of their child’s medical care.
It was just another day for Mr. Hitesh Agarwal from Surat, a city in India, when he was playing with his 3 months old daughter Shanaya and had an appointment for her regular check-up with the doctor. But little did he realize that this day was going to be different. It became traumatic and nightmarish when the doctor confirmed to him that his daughter had been diagnosed with Thalassemia Major, a critical blood disorder. Both mother and father were found to be carriers of this disease, a fact that was hitherto unknown to them. The best possible treatment for little Shanaya to survive, for her parents to see their dreams for their daughter stay alive, was a stem cell transplant.
It was a decision they took at Shanaya’s birth that stood by them during this hour of crisis. "We were on cloud nine when she was born in 2018. Like most new-age parents, we too had planned for her healthy future well in advance by signing up for a Community Stem Cell Banking to bank our baby's cord blood. But little did we know the impact this decision would have on our lives," reminisces Mr. Hitesh Agarwal.
As the parents came to grips with the situation at hand, Hitesh quickly went into action to explore options in stem cell treatment. He was advised by the doctor to check his blood to see if his stem cells could be a match for his child. As luck would have it, Hitesh and Shanaya were a full match on all the genetics required for a stem cell transplant - a medical miracle of sorts, since it is very rare for a parent and child to be a full match. The hospital swiftly planned the stem cell transplant to give the father’s cells to Shanaya, and the procedure was successfully done. The power of stem cells worked. Now Shanaya is treated and is reborn, giving new life to her parents dreams for their daughter.
"As we stood there wondering how to make arrangements for the humongous bill, the cord blood bank came to our rescue. We were, of course, aware of their medical assistance program at the time of signup, where a customer is guaranteed monetary assistance of INR 20 lakhs to offset the transplant related expenses. However, we weren't sure it worked," pointed out Mr. Hitesh.
Today, Shanaya gives an innocent smile of gratitude to her father. Hitesh responds emotionally with tears flowing out of his eyes, truly with satisfaction of fulfilling his responsibility of fatherhood. Now Hitesh can proudly say “I have given my blood to save you” to his daughter when she grows up.