It’s
the story of Mumbai’s Teera Kamat, a five-month-old girl suffering from a rare
medical condition called ‘Spinal Muscular Atrophy’ (SMA) who brought around one lakh
strangers from India and abroad on board in a bid to save her life on a call by
Teera’s father, Mihir, on a crowdfunding platform, ImpactGuru.com to cover the
cost of a drug worth Rs 16 crore. In
nearly 90 days, close to 1 lakh donors contributed almost Rs 14 crore on ImpactGuru
fundraiser.

According to doctors, the rare condition can be treated only with one medicine, Zolgensma, which is not available in India and has to be exported from US.

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It
all started when a two-month old Teera unlike other infants of her age,
struggled in sitting, lifting her head and could not consume milk due to repetitive
choking. When parents noticed these conditions and consulted a doctor the
diagnosis shed light on her SMA, which is a rare genetic disease that attacks
the baby’s nerves and muscles and makes it difficult for the child to carry out
basic activities as the time elapses, according to Teera’s parents.

Following
the life changing diagnosis and the complex treatment procedure, Teera’s
parents, Priyanka and Mihir Kamat, put a heartfelt appeal in November on the crowd funding site
to raise the needed amount for the drug.

“Teera Won’t Make It Past Her 2nd Birthday Without Your Help!” the Kamat couple wrote on the site.

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As
far as the drug is concerned, Zolgensma, which is commercially available in the
US for approximately USD 2.1 million, is Teera’s best shot at a healthy life.

Meanwhile, in a positive development for baby Teera’s treatment, Prime Minster Narendra Modi waived import duty and GST of Rs 6 crore on medicines on Tuesday.