My name is Umesh Dogra, and I am a small shopkeeper from Dhameta, Tehsil Fatehpur Khas, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh – 176025. I earn about ₹15,000 per month, which is just enough to support a simple life for my family. Today, I write to you not as a shopkeeper, but as a helpless father whose six-year-old son is battling for his life.
My son, Devansh Dogra, is only 6 years old. For the past few months, he has been suffering from blood cancer. His treatment is being carried out at the Department of Clinical Haematology, Haemato-Oncology & Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplantation, Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMC), Ludhiana. The doctors there are doing their best, and we are holding on to hope with every breath.
But for a small child, this journey is unimaginably painful. Instead of spending his childhood running, playing, and going to school, Devansh spends his days in hospital wards, undergoing painful procedures, tests, and treatments. There are nights when he cannot sleep because of the pain, and nights when I cannot sleep because I feel powerless as his father.
Since his diagnosis, our lives have turned upside down. We had to leave behind the comfort of our home and community in Kangra to stay closer to the hospital. Managing expenses for food, travel, accommodation, and medicines, along with the treatment, is far beyond what I can handle with my modest income. My wife and I are trying our best to keep life moving, but the burden is crushing.
Yet, my son is a fighter. Despite the pain, he looks at me with hopeful eyes, and I cannot let him down. As a father, my only dream is to see him healthy again—back in school, back to smiling, and free from this disease.
I am not writing this letter to ask for donations. Instead, I am humbly reaching out to seek guidance, information about possible support programs, or even emotional strength from kind-hearted people like you. Sometimes a little direction, a kind word, or even prayers can give us the courage to continue this difficult journey.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and for keeping my son, Devansh, in your thoughts and prayers. From one parent to another, I hope you can understand my pain and my hope.