Man struggles for 6-year-old’s surgery: After HT report , US consulate schedules visa interview

The US consulate on Wednesday morning reached out to Sagar Meshram, father of six-year-old Priyanshu who is suffering from rare heart disease, to facilitate the process of acquiring a visa

The US consulate on Wednesday morning reached out to Sagar Meshram, father of six-year-old Priyanshu who is suffering from rare heart disease, to facilitate the process of acquiring a visa. HT had, on Wednesday, reported that Meshram was struggling for days to get an appointment for the United States of America (USA) emergency visa for his son’s life-saving surgery. The Meshrams have been called to the consulate on Thursday for a visa interview.

Priyanshu and Sagar Meshram.

“The consulate officers assisted us in getting the slots and approved our appointment requests immediately. Now, I am hopeful that I would be able to save my son. I am so thankful to people who came forward to help us,” said Meshram, who works as a wall painter.

Priyanshu is suffering from a rare congenital heart defect where the impure blood gets mixed with pure blood, damaging the lungs of the child. Due to the severity of his illness, he was referred to Boston Children’s Hospital for his surgery. In 2018, the hospital gave them an estimation of ₹2crore for the procedure. It took Meshram more than two years to raise the money through crowdfunding.

The hospital scheduled his surgery on April 5 and instructed him to reach Boston by March 22 for a pre-surgery diagnosis. But due to the on-going pandemic, severe restrictions have been imposed on issuing visa.

After HT published a report on Wednesday detailing the plight of the family awaiting visa, the US consulate contacted the family. As per the family, they facilitated the appointment online and have also called for their visa interview on Thursday morning.

The state minister Aaditya Thackeray on social media asked the US consulate to look into the matter.

“While we cannot comment on individual visa cases for privacy reasons, we place a high priority on any cases involving medical care and attempt to expedite such cases to the maximum extent possible under U.S. immigration law,” said Nick Novak, spokesperson, US Consulate General, Mumbai.

The family is now hopeful that they will be able to make it in time to reach Boston by March 22 for the surgery.