.........BHUBANESWAR: PRATAP Sahoo, a physical education teacher (PET), keeps telling his wards the value of leading a healthy life but can’t do much about his three-year-old son. His child Pranab needs chemotherapy every two weeks and the father does not have resources to support his treatment.


“I am a teacher and it is embarrassing not to be able to raise money for my child,” he said. But that is the harsh reality. A PET with Haldipada Panchayat High School, a bloc grant school in Khurda district under Sadar Police limits, he gets Rs 3,600 a month and supports his family of four.

Pranab, the youngest of the two, was diagnosed with a tumour just below the rib cage last year. A surgery was conducted but biopsy reports later confirmed cancer. Ever since the father has been doing rounds of the hospitals.

So far, the kid has had a dozen sessions of chemotherapy at the Acharya Harihar Cancer Institute, Cuttack. Painful as it is for the three-year-old, poor financial condition of his father puts constraints on process of treatment.

He sought financial assistance from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) and a sum of ` 15,000 was sanctioned but the monetary relief is yet to be released.

Sahoo wants to take his son to the Indo-American Cancer Institute and Research Centre in Hyderabad for advanced treatment but does not know how to arrange the funds. He tried seeking the help of a social worker Sumitra Panda but help has only trickled in despite the latter’s efforts.

“I have tried to seek support from individual donors but not much is coming my way and time is ticking away for the little boy,” said Panda.