Sonu Sood comes forward seeking help for Kandhamal child

Bhjubaneswar: Actor Sonu Sood is appealing to the public to donate whatever they can to aid Rajveer, a little boy from Ambapada village in Kandhamal, who is suffering from a rare genetic disease.

Rajveer's parents approached Sood in Mumbai with their one-and-a-half-year-old son. In response, he requested that people donate everything they can to help Rajveer.

"We have seen what public cooperation can do in the past," Sood said in a video message. This condition has been cured in the past. So, I implore everyone to come forward and donate as much as they can so that the child can start a new life."

Rajveer has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a rare hereditary illness in which nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain stem die, leaving a person unable to control muscle movement.

His health is gradually deteriorating. He need a Zolgensma injection immediately, which costs Rs 16 crore and must be imported from the United States. Doctors in Bangalore who are treating him have set a four-month deadline for administering the life-saving shot.

The couple has also sought treatment from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. On December 2, Rajveer's mother Tamalika held a dharna outside Naveen Niwas.