Amitabh Bachchan to pay for girl's heart surgery
Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan has come to the aid of a young girl with a life-threatening heart ailment, promising to pay for the expensive treatment her poor family cannot afford.
Bachchan, 64, offered his help after private television channel Aaj Tak broadcast an appeal for Mita Mondal, a young girl from Kolkata who needs complicated surgery to correct a heart condition.
The actor called up the station and said he would be happy to contribute the entire treatment cost of 250,000 rupees, a small fortune for most families in India.
"Tell me your address and I will arrange for the cheque to be sent right away," Bachchan told Mondal's family as they sat in the TV studio listening to their benefactor and thanking him.
The ailing girl was seen giggling in her mother's lap. The girl's age was not given.
"I pray that after the treatment she will be completely healthy," he said.
Minutes after Bachchan offered his help, a spokesman at a leading hospital in Mumbai called the channel and offered to help Mondal.
"We are fortunate. We hope my daughter will come out as sprightly after the operation," Debu Mondal, the girl's father, said.
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