Children saved by heart surgery spend Diwali with parents at MLA Jorgewar's Chandrapur home

Several families in Chandrapur marked Diwali this year with a happiness they could hardly have counted on a short while ago. Children who have come through heart surgery went with their parents to the residence of MLA Kishor Jorgewar and celebrated the festival there. Kalyani Kishor Jorgewar was present as well.

Only a few days earlier, these households were weighed down by fear over the children's heart conditions and the operations that lay ahead. On the day of the festival, the same parents sat and watched their sons and daughters laugh and play. The children and their parents greeted Jorgewar with Diwali wishes, and he received each of them warmly and offered the children his heartfelt good wishes. Everyone then sat down together over festive snacks. The children's laughter and the lighter expressions of their parents gave the gathering an emotional yet cheerful mood.

According to information from the MLA's office, about 300 children have so far undergone heart surgery through an initiative of Jorgewar. They range in age from a newborn only a day old to young people of 17.

Heart operations are costly, and many parents, given their financial position, are unable to secure proper treatment for their children. To reach such families, Jorgewar organises a variety of health camps. Children are examined at these camps, and for those found eligible for heart surgery, arrangements are made for the next stage of treatment. The operations themselves are carried out at private hospitals in Mumbai.

The help does not stop once an operation has been fixed. Jorgewar also arranges for the children and their parents to travel to Mumbai and back, and for their stay in the city while treatment goes on. This has brought major relief to many families who were close to giving up on treatment altogether because they lacked the money. Around 300 children have now been treated successfully and have been given a fresh chance at a healthy life.

For the families, the days before this were a time of helplessness. Parents were overwhelmed by the cost of treatment, the complexity of the procedures and worry about their children's future. There followed the hospital stay, the bustle of doctors and the anxiety over whether the operations would succeed. At the Diwali gathering, by contrast, happiness showed on the children's faces, while gratitude and relief could be read in the eyes of the parents. Jorgewar, too, was moved as he watched these scenes.

Speaking about how he felt, Jorgewar said that only a few days ago the parents of these children were restless with worry about the surgeries, and that seeing the children's cheerfulness and their parents' relief today gave him a rare joy. He said, "There is no greater satisfaction than being able to remove the sorrow from a family's life and fill it with colours of happiness. These children got a chance to live anew and a smile has returned to their parents' faces; that is my biggest earning. The Diwali wishes the children gave today and the joy on their faces are a priceless gift for me."