KOCHI: This is the third test for B.V. Renjith, a 33-year-old native of Thiruvananathapuram and a marketing professional with a private firm in Kochi, who is facing the second relapse of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. But the third occurrence of the disease has shown the brighter side of the world around him. Egged on by his former classmates, crowdfunding platform Milaap based at Bangalore has helped raise over Rs 4 lakh now for his treatment which is set to cost nearly Rs 10 lakh.
The first incidence of the disease was in 2012 and he underwent chemotherapy and stem cells transplantation to get back to normal at Amrita Hospital, Kochi. However in 2015, it got relapsed and Renjith underwent chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation under Dr Neeraj Sidharthan. Life of Renjith, who has a family of five, including his parents, was back to rails. However, again ill luck had other designs. On February 2018, he was diagnosed with myeloma again.
“Though Renjith’s earnings and property were used to meet his previous treatment expenses, at present, lack of funds put his treatment tougher. His alumni friends at MET School of Engineering, Thrissur, decided to connect with Milaap, a crowd-funding platform that helped patients raise funds for treatment. Milaap has proved helpful in garnering Rs 4,84,220 (till June 8, 2018) out of a goal of Rs 6,00,000,” said a person familiar with the development.
“Milaap was founded with a vision to enable people to directly help individuals in need. Over the past eight years it has emerged as a preferred platform to fund medical emergencies. Online crowd-funding is now becoming accessible to more people, backed by social media and the ease of digital payments,” said Anoj Viswanathan, president and co-founder, Milaap.
“A fund raiser is verified through the documents issued by the hospital or related authority. The fund raiser is asked to submit /upload the supporting documents. Officials at Milaap then verify them. Milaap works closely with all involved to ensure that fundraising campaigns are accurately represented. We recommend people to donate only if they feel confident about the cause and legitimacy,” he said.
