The Most Unlikely Rescue Plan Ever

This just may be the most unlikely rescue plan in history.

A boy is on the street outside a temple in Delhi, literally begging for his life.

His name is Sai, he’s 12 years old and he has Stage IV bone marrow cancer.

In India, a bone marrow transplant costs 15 lakh rupees (around $17,000 USD) of which his family has managed to raise 8 lakh (about $9,000)—but they are out of options.

His father once owned 5 taxis with hired drivers, but one by one, as the costs for chemotherapy and radiation and hospital stays piled up, he sold his entire fleet and now has nothing left to sell.

Which is when Sai’s family came up with the terrible, desperate, sure-to-fail plan: Have Sai stand outside of a temple and beg.

Sai outside the temple, alone and literally begging for his life.

As it happened one night, while Sai’s father was praying inside the temple, Sai stood outside the gate, approaching strangers.

Most ignored him. Some would give 100 rupees ($1.12 US), a few might feel generous and give a 500 rupee note ($5.60)—but when you’re begging for 700,000 rupees (around $8,000 USD), these gifts are just drops in the proverbial bucket of need.

But then…

In a country of 1.4 billion people, I know maybe 1000 at most, but many of these are orphaned children. And all of these are spread out over the vast Indian countryside. The odds that one of my friends would walk by Sai that night at that particular time and temple, and that Sai would approach them and ask them for help are beyond extremely low.

But then all miracles are made of such impossible circumstances.

Swati does not like her photo taken, but I think this is a good one of her.

Her name is Swati. She runs a school for underprivileged children in South India and she was in Delhi trying to inspire the notoriously slow Indian government to move more quickly on a few key matters that affected her kids. She has no money, but she has a big heart.

When Sai approached her, her first thought was “This is a scam.” But after meeting with his father, seeing medical reports and hospital pictures, she was convinced. Which is when she reached out to me.

“How’d you like to save a little boy’s life?” she asked.

I said that sounded like a good idea.

Sai’s brother has already been evaluated as a suitable transplant match, but the clock is ticking. As his doctor said recently, “Without this surgery, Sai will soon die.”

Bone marrow transplants have a good survival rate for young patients. Numbers vary, but I like the Children’s Hospital of Colorado report that lists a 90.9% survival rate. I’m picturing that.

So now the final unlikely connection in this impossible chain of events…is you.

Anyone feel like saving a little boy’s life?

If you also think this sounds like a good idea, you can join Sai’s team by clicking the button below. If God taps even more loudly on your heart, you can reach out to me directly at john@teachher.org or on WhatsApp at +1 207 332-6349.

I look forward to giving Sai (and all of you) the good news very soon.