A two-and-a-half-year-old boy from Ludhiana, Aarav Thakur, is fighting Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2 (SMA), a rare genetic disorder that has left his family racing to raise Rs 9 crore for treatment, The Tribune reported on August 17-18. Aarav developed normally for his first eighteen months; the family, then living in Dubai, watched his movement steadily deteriorate before the diagnosis came. He is currently being treated at PGI Chandigarh, where doctors say he needs either a lifetime of medication or a single gene-therapy injection priced at roughly Rs 9 crore.
The family has managed to raise about Rs 1 crore so far, and Ludhiana's Deputy Commissioner has personally appealed to residents for support. Actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood, well known in Punjab for stepping in on medical fundraising cases, has now added his voice to the campaign, urging the city's industrial community and philanthropists to help close the gap.
Cases like Aarav's have become painfully familiar across Punjab in recent years, as families confront the enormous cost of treating rare genetic disorders that public health infrastructure alone cannot cover. For the Sangat in Jagraon and Ludhiana district, where community fundraising for medical emergencies is a well-worn tradition carried out through gurdwaras and local associations, Aarav's case is likely to draw exactly that kind of grassroots support in the days ahead.
