New Delhi
After sending off thousands of migrants back to their hometowns, actor Sonu Sood has now extended his philanthropic services to save 12 Filipino children, suffering from acute liver disease and requiring an organ transplant urgently.
He arranged a free charter flight for these 12 children, along with their family members, that landed in Delhi on Saturday. The children, natives of Manila and Cebu City, have been admitted to Max Super Speciality Hospital and Indraprastha Apollo Hospital for the transplant, Sood told IANS.
The children, aged between six months and two years, are accompanied by a family member and an attendant. All of them are currently in a 10-day quarantine period at the hospitals. “Five of them were admitted to Max while seven to the Apollo Hospital,” Sood said, noting that he was contacted to rescue 18 Filipino infants in mid-July, but only 12 made it.
“Unfortunately, six children were in very critical condition and could not be saved,” he said. The transplant of these twelve children at Max and Apollo was due for more than two months.
“Earlier, 3 to 4 of them used to visit us from the Philippines every month. But ever since the lockdown began, these sick children have been awaiting a liver transplant.
They were in a grave health condition, and delay in treatment any further would have serious health implications,” said Neerav Goyal, Head of Apollo’s liver transplant, Hepatobiliary, and Pancreatic unit.
Considering the deteriorating health condition of these children, the Apollo Hospital was planning to fly these children to India, but the plan could not be materialise due to the long quarantine protocol.—Agencies
