I Was Just 14 Years Old When My World Stopped!

Jitendra speaks with his trembling voice, “Main 14 ka tha… jab meri duniya ruk gayi.” It started with a little swelling in my right leg. I didn’t know it would be so bad. Then the pain came. Then the stares. Then the shame. Friends stopped calling me. I stopped going to school. People looked at my leg more than they looked at my face. That hurt more than the pain in my body.

I am now 29 years old. I was supposed to study, work, and support my parents. But today, I can’t even walk to the end of the street without feeling like a burden.

“Kabhi kabhi lagta hai ki main andar hi andar mar chuka hoon… bas sans le raha hoon.”

I hear my father cry almost every night. I’ve seen my mother secretly wipe her tears. I know they blame themselves. But it’s not their fault. It’s this disease… that stole everything from me, my education, my friends, my confidence, my youth.

Jitendra’s father says, “Main ek kisaan hoon… zameen se jude hue haathon se sapne ugane ki koshish karta hoon. Par mere apne bete ke pair ke neeche se zameen hi khisak gayi… aur main kuch nahi kar paaya.”

He stopped going to school. His books lay untouched, his uniform hung quietly behind the door  as if waiting for a life that never came back. Slowly, he stopped going out. Children in the neighborhood began pointing. Some adults whispered things. And I… I watched my son shrink into silence.

“Main har subah kheton mein jaata hoon… sochta hoon koi jaadu ho jaye, koi upay mil jaaye… par har shaam main usi dard ke saath ghar lautta hoon, jisme mera beta karwat badal raha hota hai dard ke saath, akelapan ke saath.”

We spent lakhs over the years. Took him to many doctors. Sold our cattle. Mortgaged whatever little we had. But no surgery could fix him. Now, he’s 29 and I haven’t seen my son laugh freely in 15 years.

Jitendra’s mother cries and says: “Maa ke liye sabse bada dukh hota hai jab uska bachcha uski god mein roye… aur vo sirf thapki de paaye, dawa nahi.”

“Main har din bhagwan se poochhti hoon kyun? Kyun mere bete ke saath aisa hua? Vo toh ek pyara, masoom bacha tha… usne kya bigaada tha?”

Now when I look into his eyes, I see nothing but pain. No dreams. No joy. Just a quiet wish that someday, someone will help.

Now, the doctors in Nagpur say they can treat me. For the first time in 15 years, there’s real hope. But it costs ₹12 lakhs. I know my parents can’t afford it.

“Bas ek moka chahiye… ek moka ki main theek ho jaun, chal pau, kuch ban pau… maa-baap ke sar pe haath rakh pau. Bas ek moka… ek zindagi.” (I just need one chance… one chance to get better, to walk again, to become something… to place my hand on my parents’ heads and be their strength. Just one chance… at life.”)

Will you be Jitensdra’s last hope? Will you help him have the future that he rightly deserves? If yes, kindly donate and help him get a second chance at life!