Pune, March 11: To all those given to taking a cynical view of today's world, the case of Piyush Kolur should come as an eye-opener. Such has been the spontaneous outpouring of support and help for this seven-year-old boy suffering from a relapse of acute lymphoblast leukemia, a form of blood cancer.

On March 4, Pune Newsline had highlighted the case of Piyush, whose only chance of survival is a bone marrow transplant abroad at a cost of Rs 1.26 crore. While his parents had managed to collect Rs 72 lakh till that time, thanks to the generosity of friends, family, his school DAV and good Samaritans, the family was still short of about Rs 50 lakh. Today however, the figure has reached Rs 1.03 crore and the Kolurs are finally beginning to see a ray of hope in their lives.

While readers have been calling, wanting to lend financial support to the boy, who had bravely battled the disease when he was four, only to have a relapse three years later, the Kolurs home in Aundh has been witness to visitors dropping in unannounced to see the boy and more often than not pitch in.

“An elderly lady of about 82 years dropped in the other day and left a cheque of Rs two lakh, a group of school students came clutching the newspaper report and offered an envelope that had their collections. It's all very touching and of course a big help to us,” says Maltesh Kolur, Piyush's father who works for Honeywell and belongs to a middle class family, that clearly could not have managed the astronomical amount on their own.

On Sunday evening, a group of nine professionals led a candle march on MG Road during the walking plaza to spread awareness about Piyush's condition and offer prayers for him. “We are a group of like-minded professionals who decided to pitch in with some concrete help for the boy and hence the march,” says Diya Choudhary, who works for NASSCOM.

Meanwhile, Piyush will be flying to Singapore with his parents on March 17 for the life-saving operation that is supposed to have an 85 per cent success rate. “The good news is that eight bone marrow matchings have been found for Piyush by the doctor in Singapore — this is as good as a sibling match. We have our first appointment at the hospital on March 19 and will take it from there,” says a grateful Maltesh. Incidentally, a family from Singapore has offered to host the family's stay while they are there, thus easing the accommodation issue for them.

What remains most importantly now is for the boy to undergo the transplant and his body to respond well to the operation. It would be the answer to many a prayer sent out from not just the city but all over the country and abroad too.