A baby girl in Andhra Pradesh with a rare liver disorder just got a new lease on life after the Andhra government offered to pay for her treatment. The offer comes after the baby’s parents, both agricultural labourers without the means to treat the baby, made a plea to a local court, requesting mercy killing for their 8-month-old daughter.
Ramanappa and Saraswati from Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh, have been treating their daughter for a while now, and have already spent Rs 5 lakh on it over the past 5 months. The baby, named Gnana Sai, needs a liver transplant, and though the father is prepared to donate his own liver, he is still short of 30 lakhs needed for the operation.
So, the couple appealed to a civil court for passive euthanasia for the ailing child on Thursday. Civil judge Vasudev rejected the plea, stating that allowing a mercy killing was not within his powers. He assured the couple of bringing the matter to the notice of Andhra CM.
The Andhra government has agreed to help out with Rs 20 lakh for the treatment. In fact, Global Hospitals Group has also come forward to conduct the operation.
Dr K Ravindranath, chairman, Global Hospitals Group, told The Times Of India:
“We at Global Hospitals would like to come forward and do the required liver transplant for baby Sai at Global Hospitals, Chennai, without putting any financial burden on the family.”
The baby will need a full liver transplant. The doctors said she is ‘not in suffering’ right now.
(Feature image source:Reuters)