In 2013, in the month of May, Tulasi was born in Telangana’s Regulaguda in Kazipet. Two days after she was born, her parents realised that she had failed to have a bowel movement. Seeing her swollen stomach, her parents knew something was wrong. They were asked to take her to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Warangal. The doctors diagnosed Tulasi with Hirschsprung's disease. The rare condition involves missing nerve cells in the muscles in the large intestine (colon) and this causes difficulty in passing stool. She had to undergo a surgery to bypass the affected part of the colon.
The Ostomy surgery was carried out and her parents were asked to return around eight months later for a second surgery as a follow up. Meanwhile, the surgery surgically created an outlet for the stool to be passed. This meant her bodily waste would be passed through the outlet in the abdomen.
For months together, her parents had to take her to Warangal, 150 kms away from Regulaguda for follow up visits to the doctor. Later, when their financial resources began depleting and when her parents were told she wasn’t ready for surgery as yet, they decided to put on hold any decision about the surgery. It has been seven years since and over the years, Tulasi has been putting up a brave fight, wondering many times why she is so different from all the others around her.
Tulasi’s father Kanaka Srikanth is a daily wage labourer and her mother is a housewife.
Speaking to TNM, Kanaka Srikanth, Tulasi’s father explained, “Though the surgery was completed, it meant she didn’t have control over the process. Sometimes the entire stool would be let out of the outlet at once, sometimes, it kept coming out little by little-- through the day. This meant, wherever she was, it had to be cleaned and washed. When at home, we would do it for her, but when it happened at school, her classmates ridiculed her and complained of the stench. Her teacher would just send her home whenever it happened.” Once Tulasi came home, she would refuse to go back to school, scared that she would have to go through the entire trauma once again.
Tulasi’s parents believe it’s now time for the second surgery. “We brought her to Rainbow Hospital in Hyderabad. When we explained our financial situation and the issue, the hospital reduced the rates and agreed to do the surgery for Rs 2.5 lakh. Additional cost of Rs 40,000 will be incurred for the medicines,” said her father.
Tulasi’s parents and her uncles have been trying hard to raise the funds required for her surgery which is scheduled for March 9. So far, they have raised Rs 50,000. With three days to go, they are worried the surgery may not take place considering they still have a big amount to raise. They are trying to reach out to the media, NGOs and well-wishers hoping that someone would come to the little girl’s help. After all, what Tulasi has had to undergo all these years, is something no child should be put through.
You can contribute and help the family raise the required amount for the surgery. Provided below is Tulasi’s uncle’s account details:
K Krishna Kumar
62293906223
IFSC CODE. SBIN0020124
Reddy Colony branch,
Mancherial
Google Pay and PhonePe no: 7675812331