| Goel raising funds for eight-year-old Ashley, who is suffering from a rare disease; Ashley performs magic to gather money for his treatment
| | | Lending A Helping Hand: Mannish Goel | Mannish Goel recently hosted the annual day of his son's play school Kookoburra in Juhu. During the event, the actor bumped into eight-year-old Ashley Vanristell, whose story moved him to tears.
The eight-year-old child has been performing magic shows for the last three years. Wherever he goes, his shows are housefull.
However, not many know that Ashley is suffering from a very rare condition called hypogammaglobulinemia (lack of white blood cells that help the body fight diseases) since the age of five.
Deeply moved
Talking about Ashley's condition, Mannish says, "I wrote the script for the annual day event, and had to pen a line for all participating kids.
When I heard Ashley's story, I was so moved that before introducing him, I said, 'The day his life was written by God, it was taken away'. For me, it was the most heart-wrenching tale I have ever heard."
After hearing about his condition, which requires him to take a painful injection on the 19th of every month, Mannish decided to campaign and create as much awareness for Ashley as possible. "I have a son as well.
My instincts as a father drove me to do something for him. It's unbelievable that the fate of an eight-year-old is decided by an injection that he takes each month."
Grave situation
The biggest hurdle in Ashley's treatment is not just the fact that a single injection costs over Rs 50,000, but also the lack of interest shown by NGOs or institutions in a position to raise money to support him.
We spoke to Ashley's mom Andrea, who told us, "It's a grave situation.
His injection for this month still hasn't arrived and I am getting quite paranoid. These injections come from Germany to Mumbai via Delhi.
I have been told that it has reached Delhi and should arrive in Mumbai in the next few days."
Even though help and support was hard to come by, Andrea says the late Dhirubhai Ambani and his wife Kokilaben have been supporting her for Ashley's treatment.
"We carried out the first diagnosis on Ashley when he was five. It's all because of God and Dr Rashid Merchant from Nanavati hospital, who saved my son's life.
At the moment, Dr Pankaj Parikh, who works in Harikishandas Hospital at Charni Road, is treating Ashley."
Since there is no permanent cure, Andrea has to bank on the monthly injections, which come from Germany.
"When Ashley found out the cost of these injections, he suggested performing magic shows and collecting money for the medicine.
That's when we decided to organise as many magic shows as possible and try and raise awareness about his condition." |
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