Infant from Karjat finally off ventilator

The 12-day-old son of Karjat couple Seema and Dutta Palkar was taken off the ventilator at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH) in Andheri on Tuesday.

"I have decided to name my child Hindustan," said Dutta Palkar, 26, who works in a garment shop in Karjat. "The news report [HT report on June 20] helped save his life. Many people offered us help after that."

The infant underwent a seven-hour open-heart surgery last week to correct a rare heart defect in which the two major vessels supplying blood to and from the heart were attached wrongly, leading to a shortage of oxygen in his blood.

In the past week, the couple has received Rs2.11 lakh towards the medical expenses of their son.

Help poured in for the infant after the Hindustan Times reported his parents' ordeal of being unable to find a free ventilator for their first-born at five public hospitals in the city.

They could not afford treatment at a private hospital. In their desperation they even offered to give their first-born in adoption to anyone who could get him treated.

The news report prompted several people and institutions including KDAH to offer help.

"We had lost all hopes, I had thought that I would lose my child. The help that poured in after reading the news report has saved my child," said Seema, 26.

The youth league of St Paul's Marthoma Church in Navi Mumbai was the first to offer help and got the infant admitted to DY Patil Hospital, Navi Mumbai, on June 20. The infant, struggling to breathe, was put on a ventilator, stabilised and later shifted to KDAH for a surgery.

"After the surgery, we did multiple tests which showed that his condition is improving. His oxygen levels have stabilised and he would not need a ventilator any more. We will keep him in the intensive care unit for a day or two and will later shift him to the ward," said Dr Snehal Kulkarni, a cardiologist treating the infant.