A GUARDIAN FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN

After helping a mother struggling to save her child, Sapna Upadhyaya never imagined that a simple act of kindness would lead her to discover her true calling, writes Namita Bajpai

- Namita Bajpai

OR Sapna Upadhyaya, the turning point in her life came on a dark, quiet day in 2002, outside the pediatric ICU at King George's Medical University. She and her husband had been anxiously waiting for their daughter Swarnima, who was five years old then and was suffering from a high fever after being diagnosed with asthma.

In the midst of their distress, Sapna overheard a woman sobbing in a corner. The woman's son, critically ill with acute pneumonia, needed urgent surgery, but the family couldn't afford the required ₹16,000.

Moved by the mother's helplessness, Sapna looked at her husband. Without hesitation, he offered ₹20,000 to ensure the child received immediate medical attention. Remarkably, after the intervention, their own daughter's condition began to improve.

Today, Swarnima is a healthy 27-year-old pursuing a career in journalism.

This incident was a divine turning point for Sapna. Deeply impacted by the experience, she vowed to dedicate her life to helping others, focusing specifically on underprivileged children battling cancer.