Anwin & Abel Fund Raising

Nov 25 - Dec 25

April 10^th 2010 – Anwin's Bone Marrow Transplant is scheduled during the first week of May. The earlier date given was in the month of November, but he went though some serious kidney infections (Complicated Nephrotic Syndrome) that forced to pre-pone the procedure.

March 20^th 2010 –  Anwin finds a matching donor –  The blood sample test of Anwin's uncle came out positive with 6/6 match. The family and the doctor consider this as a miracle. Apart from the joy of finding a donor, this also brings a huge relief to the family in terms of financial requirement. The whole expense for Anwin's procedure now comes down to less than Rs 12 lakhs.

March 9^th 2010 –  Abel successfully went through SCT on Jan 21st. Though he was discharged from the hospital on 2nd Feb, family is still staying in Vellore for the weekly appointments. His platelets and WBC count are steadily improving since then.

November 26^th 2009 – Abel’s stem cell transplantation (SCT) has been scheduled for the first week of January 2010. The estimated expense is around 12 lakhs ($25,000). The doctor’s letter and the cost estimate can be found here.

November 1^st 2009 – Anwin & Abel, born into a middle class family in Trichur, are both affected by the genetic disorder Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS). Anwin is three years old and Abel is just four months. Anwin went through several treatment phases, but none of them worked. Doctors recommended that the parents try for a second child, whose cord blood cells may be used to try and treat the disease. A year and a half later, Anwin's Mom delivered twins; a boy and a girl. Unfortunately, the cells of either new born did not match with those of Anwin. To further complicate the situation, one of the twins, Abel, was also diagnosed with the same disease. Anwin’s WAS diagnosis report can be found here.

Right now, the only solution for Anwin is a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) and the family is searching worldwide for a positive match. The expense for a BMT is anywhere between Rs. 25 to 50 lakhs ($50,000 to $1,00,000) depending upon where you get the match from. Having the cord blood cells collected at the time of birth together with the cells of his twin sister, Ann, Abel can be treated using stem cell transplantation (SCT). Abel has to wait until he reaches one year-old to undergo the transplantation. The expected cost for Abel is around Rs. 12 lakhs ($25,000). Both the children are undergoing treatment at Vellore Hospital. The family has already spent all of their savings, close to Rs. 8 lakhs ($16,000) and now turns to their friends and family for help with the expensive treatment costs.

Care & Share volunteers are joining the efforts to drive funds for Anwin & Abel. You can use any of the options listed in the donate page to contribute towards the treatment of Anwin & Abel. Please mention Anwin & Abel when you submit the donation request.