mid-day impact: Community responds swiftly to save baby after mid-day report

Several Mumbaikars came forward to extend a helping hand after midday highlighted a young couplersquos desperate plight to save their son who is in dire need of affordable specialised care Within just 24 hours of the story being published over Rs 92000 was raised through UPI payments by generous citizensSince morning I have received many messages and calls from several people who are willing to help And everyone has sent me the photo of the midday report to reconfirm if the number printed was correct and if they could send money on the same number via UPIrdquo said Ganesh More the father of the boy While donors transferred Rs 500 others have transferred as much as Rs 25000DonorSpeakldquoWe keep seeing many such stories on social media and other sources But considering that this one was featured in a newspaper it felt authentic So I messaged the number mentioned to confirm if I could send money to the same number Once I received confirmation I sent him the money I pray that the baby survives and is discharged from the hospital in a healthy staterdquo said a person who donated Rs 10000Cama and Albless Hospital near CSMT where a neonatal ICU bed has been reserved for the infant FILE PICAnother person who donated Rs 2000 said ldquoAfter reading that the baby born two months before the motherrsquos due date was already in so much agony I could not stop myself from contacting his parents Though I am not in a position to donate a lot considering I have just started my career I gave whatever meagre help I couldrdquoAn organisation that donated Rs 25000 told midday ldquoItrsquos a duty of every human being to help as many living beings as they can It just took us one formal discussion to understand how much we can chip in and thatrsquos it We sent the parents the money via direct bank transferrdquoBed reservedThough transferring the baby from Howard Newborn Centre the private facility in Malad where he is receiving treatment is a tricky task Cama Hospital in Fort has kept a bed reserved for the child ldquoWe will keep the bed reserved for as many days as we can Unless an extremely critical case comes the bed will be made available to the familyrdquo said Dr Tushar Palve medical superintendent of Cama Hospital which has kept the bed reserved since the night of Saturday July 12Ganesh and Asmita More the parents of the boy in 2021 PICBY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTFamilyrsquos dilemmaDespite having a neonatal ambulance available and a bed waiting at the government hospital itrsquos not easy to shift the baby considering his critical condition ldquoIf we shift him to Cama Hospital someone needs to stay in the facility round the clock My wife is still in postpartum pain and is finding it difficult to pump out milk due to stress So she cannot stay in the hospital If we move him she will not be able to see him every day considering the distance and her poor health Also it is difficult for any of our family members to stay there around the clock as everyone is working and cannot afford to take leave often or have to bear with pay cuts especially now when we desperately need money In this hospital we do not need to stay 24 hours Our baby has had the best possible care since he was born on June 29 at Howard Newborn Centre Now for the next few weeks we do not wish to take any risks Though he is more stable than on Sunday July 13 shifting him is still very risky I am thankful that Cama Hospital has still kept the bed reserved But we are unable to decide whether to shift him or notrdquo said Ganesh who appealed to readers to continue helping the family ensure the survival of the child