Dad Plans To Sell Kidney To Save Morbidly Obese Children

Two sisters and their baby brother are so obese they are unable to walk. Their poor dad, Rameshbhai Nandwana, 34, plans to sell his kidney to pay for their medical treatment.

The Indian children; Yogita Rameshbhai Nandwana, 5, Anisha, 3, and their 18-month-old little brother Harsh are among the heaviest toddlers in the world each weighing a staggering 34kg (5.3st), 48kg (7.5st) and 15kg (2.5st) respectively.

The food they eat in a week is enough to feed two families in a month in their village in Gujarat, western India.

Their dad said, “A few social workers have come forward to help but it’s not just about the food. If my kids continue to grow at this rapid rate they will have major health issues. We’re terrified they will die. I am ready to sell my kidneys if the money can help in their treatment.”

Little Harsh gulps down eight glasses of milk a day, his sisters Yogita and Anisha devour eight chapatis (Indian bread), 2kg of rice and three bowls of broth, six packets of crisps, five packets of biscuits, one dozen bananas and a litre of milk every day.

Their uncontrollable hunger means their mother Pragna Ben, 30, is in the kitchen the whole day.

She says: “My day starts with making 30 chapatis and one kilogramme of vegetable curry in the morning. After that I am again in the kitchen preparing more food. It never stops – their hunger never stops. They demand food all the time and cry and scream if they’re not fed. I am always in the kitchen cooking for them.”

Rameshbhai and Pragna have one older daughter Bhavika, aged six who weighs an average 16 kg, and cannot explain or understand why their other three children are so obese.

Rameshbhai said: “When Yogita was born she was extremely weak and weighed just 1.5 kg. We were worried for her health so we fed her a lot during the first year of her life to build her strength but by her first birthday she had bloated to 12 kg. Our third daughter Anisha also gained weight in similar fashion and by her first birthday she was 15 kg. But we only realised they were suffering from a disorder when our son Harsh was born as he too gained weight quickly during his first year. We started looking for medical help and consulted many doctors but they would just refer us to bigger hospitals that I couldn’t afford.”

Rameshbhai earns just Rs 3000 (£35) a month but he still finds the money to buy the food to fill his children’s large appetite.

He said: “I am a daily wage labour and I usually get paid Rs 100 a day but there are times when there is no work at all. I work in fields, dig wells, and do whatever menial job I can find to earn money. And I’m constantly worried about finding the money to feed my continually hungry children.”

Despite his paltry income, Rameshbhai spends approximately Rs 10,000 (£110) a month on food for his children.

“I cannot leave them starving. If I don’t have the money, I borrow it from my brothers and friends but I make sure I feed my children when they need,” he added.

The desperate father has spent Rs 50,000 (£540) on seeing doctors and treatment over the last three years but there is still no improvement.

He said: “No one in our family has a giant frame. Only my children are overweight. As parents, it pains us immensely to see them unable to move. They cannot walk; they cannot do anything on their own. Selling my kidney is a desperate measure but I’m now desperate to get the right help for my children.”

Pragna cannot pick up her children so she has to watch them roll around when her husband is at work or use a trolley to pull them around.

“Their condition could be due to endocrinal disease or Prader Willi Syndrome but we can only ascertain the right treatment after a proper diagnosis at one of our top hospitals,” he added.

Source: Mirror