MUMBAI: Mumbai boy Nishant Patkar was pursuing his education when he suddenly developed health complications with failed kidneys. Not only his health condition surprised his family that such a problem can occur at such young age, the costs for his continuous treatment for the last one month has added to the agony.
His father had committed suicide two years ago and financial condition of the family is not very stable. Unable to bear further treatment costs, his twin brother Siddhant started a campaign on online fund raising platform ImpactGuru.com and raised more than the total amount in a week of the Rs 9 lakh that he wanted to raise for a kidney transplant which is the only way out for saving Nishant’s life.
The twins were born with a kidney disease known as bilateral hydronephrosis. Their mother will donate one of her kidneys to Nishant once sufficient funds will be generated. Nishant is currently undergoing treatment at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai and Siddhant is hopeful he will be able to raise the necessary funds in the next few days for the transplant.
Healthcare crowdfunding is an alternative method of raising funds online for medical expenses, with the patient (or his/ her friends or family) primarily relying on social media networks to mobilise donors to finance the relevant medical bills.
“The additional advantage of crowdfunding is that patients do not have to repay that money back to the funders as the money provided online is a donation and not a loan,” said Piyush Jain, co-founder ImpactGuru.com.
