Born prematurely at 26 weeks of gestation and weighing only 800 grams each, twin boys seemed to hold on to dear life only by a thread. The babies were having respiratory issues and trouble feeding. They were kept under observation at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and given constant critical care by the NICU team.

The babies’ father, a kirana shop owner and the mother who is homemaker had pledged almost all they had for the sake of their babies’ treatment. The couple had already faced a tragedy and the irreparable loss of a previous child, so they felt this was their only chance to fulfil their dream of becoming parents. The father would come walking to the hospital every day to save money on transport and was doing all he could to meet treatment costs of the twins.

But it was not enough. Since the twins needed ventilator care, the daily costs of caring for them in the NICU was exorbitant. One of the twins (Sai) developed a serious condition, which required a double surgery. While the NICU care brought the twins back from the brink, the cost of surgery and keeping them on ventilator was quite high. The hospital administration decided to subsidise the treatment of the twins and donations poured because of a crowd-funding drive.         

After a stay of 4 and half months, the twins were discharged and both are doing well and now more than a year old.