Akshaya donating the amount for flood relief on Tuesday

TRICHY: Touched by the agony faced by people in Kerala due to the unprecedented floods, a 12-year-old girl from Karur district has decided to contribute a portion of the fund crowd-sourced for her heart operation towards flood relief .

Hailing from a poor family in Kumarapalayam near Thanthondrimalai, Akshaya is suffering from a congenital heart disease and her friends have been trying to mobilise the required Rs 2.5 lakh by way of crowd funding through social media platforms. Her mother Jothimani said Akshaya broke down while watching television showing people who lost their homes and many going without food due to the floods.

Jothimani said Rs 2.5 lakh had to be collected before November for the operation but she could garner only Rs 20,000 so far. However, she decided to donate Rs 5,000 from it. “As of now, it is the people in Kerala who are in dire need of help,” Akshaya said adding that she was optimistic about getting the required money by November. “I wanted to be of some help to the people of Kerala as they had come forward to help me when I wanted Rs 3.5 lakh in November last year for my first operation,” she said.

Akshaya underwent her first surgery at Apollo hospital Chennai where she could source the entire expenses of the operation, Rs 3.5 lakh, through crowd funding. People extended a helping hand from within and outside the country on coming to know about her condition through social media platforms. “She is awaiting her second and final operation this November after which she will be able to lead a normal life,” said A Sadik who has been helping her mobilise people to fund her operation.

Akshaya is being raised by a single parent after losing her father in an accident about six years ago. Jothimani had no hope when doctors asked for Rs 3.5 lakh for her operation last year.

However, they managed to source the money, Sadik said. The mother said that she was forced to take Akshaya to a private hospital last year when she developed health complication after failing to get a positive response from government hospitals.

“We have to rely on private hospitals for treatment and the people for help to fund the operation. When my daughter wished to donated money towards flood relief, I could not say no,” she said. A student of class 7 at a government school in Kumarapalayam, Askahaya wants to become an IAS officer to extend a helping hand to the needy.

