Kochi: A pall of gloom descended over Kumbalangi Village near here on Saturday following the death of Sneha Paul, a Class VI student who was suffering from multiple organ failure, just days before her kidney transplant.
The entire village had come together to raise funds for the treatment of the girl who was in a critical condition due to the failure of both her kidneys and liver.
The local residents along with generous souls across the world had together collected nearly Rs 70 lakh to give her a new lease of life.
From film stars, members of social groups, villagers to media, all had rendered support to the fund raising campaign, but now all that has become futile.
Sneha (11), a student of the St Peters HSS, Kumbalangi, underwent a liver transplant on November 6 last and doctors had termed her liver function during the post-operative period as “satisfactory”. She had undergone over 3,200 dialysis so far and was getting ready for a kidney transplant.
“At 5 am today, she suffered a cardiac arrest. Despite prolonged Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, she could not be revived and was clinically declared dead at 6.20 am,” a statement from the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, where she was under treatment, said.
As the news spread, villagers poured in to her house located at the end of a narrow bylane at Kumbalangi. Relatives and neighbours were seen lost for words while consoling the parents, Paul K G and Reema Paul.
The mother had donated her liver and the family was making arrangements for an urgent kidney transplant.
“She was the reason for our prayers since July last when the family came here and we learned about her suffering.
The whole village was with her. We started the fund raising campaign to meet the Rs 50 lakh needed for her treatment.
The response was overwhelming the ‘Sneha Paul Sahaya Nidhi’ received over Rs 68 lakhs. We had to call a press meet asking people to stop sending funds. But fate is very cruel,” said C J Xavier, a teacher with the St Peters HSS.
Her body was brought to the school where a large mass of people assembled to bid her a tearful adieu. The funeral was held at the St Peters Church later.
